


The Island and the Ocean

by AlixtheScottishNerdGirl



Category: Finding Dory (2016), Finding Nemo (2003)
Genre: Cute, Family Fluff, Friendship/Love, Gen, Platonic Romance, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-21
Updated: 2017-02-14
Packaged: 2018-08-10 04:30:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 30,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7830409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlixtheScottishNerdGirl/pseuds/AlixtheScottishNerdGirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A series of one shots about Marlin and dory and their life together after bringing Nemo home. Other characters will also make appearences! Implied Dorlin</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Sleep Talking

The sweeping rouge of the anemone swayed gently in the pacific current, silently protecting those who lay asleep within it's hold. The two shapes shifted in the dark, a father and his child, their orange hue tinted black by the night. Marlin the clownfish slowly opened his eyes, awakened by a harsh dream that he had sure had been a reality.

How horrific it had been. A flurry of bubbles, sharp teeth and his own blood. A monstrous creature and its lust for a kill. Then he had seen a beautiful creature, hiding in a warm cavern, shielding her children, attempting fruitfully to scoop them in her fins. He watched the beast tear after her as he fell, drifting into what should have been a comforting home. His vision blurred and the last thing he saw was the swishing tail wriggling through the cavern.

Half lethargic half frantic he shifted his gaze to his son laying by his side, chest heaving in and out in tiny, tired breaths, his limp fin making it difficult but not impossible to do so. His own eyes were closed, absorbed in what Marlin assumed to be a much nicer dream. He smiled to himself as he gently ran his fin over Nemo's lucky one, the scar that had once seemed like such a curse, now seemed like nothing after what the little one had been through. Taken. Kidnapped. Snatched away by strange large creatures and held captive in a place that wasn't home. It made Marlin shiver to think how frightened he must have been, how alone he must have felt. It was a good thing that there had been other fish there to look after him then-he shuddered. He didn't want to think about what would have happened. The only thing he couldn't brush off so easily-that time between rescue and reunion. The time when had world had shattered. As though the whole ocean had been drained of all it's life, every piece of seaweed torn, every shell broken. That was the time when all he wanted was to be alone-but now he had his beautiful boy back, the ocean was calm again. All was well.

Yet...

He was thinking about someone. Someone he hadn't turned his thoughts upon for a very long time. Someone with scales of a siren and a face of a polished stone.

 _Her_. He was thinking about her.

Marlin sighed, rolling over. Why him? Why her? Why hadn't it been him? Why couldn't the barracuda have chosen him as its meal? The last time he had seen Coral she had died protecting what she had loved. It was because of her that Nemo was still alive. Marlin couldn't believe he had discouraged her from defending the eggs. Their children. If she hadn't swam towards the cavern, if she hadn't taken that risk...none of their children would have survived. Nemo would never have been sleeping beside him this night, and for that Marlin thanked her every day, even if she wasn't around to hear it.

" _No No Mister Turtle, I wasn't jumping on your shell..."_

Marlin stirred as the sound of Dory snoozing next door awoke his thoughts. Her snores could be heard all over the reef but Marlin had learned to ignore them.

_"I ate the last one sorry."_

Marlin listened to her mumble nonsensical things for a few minutes or so. Then with one final concerned glance for Nemo he swam opposite his home and over to Dory's coral cave. The regal blue tang was lying with her head against one of its walls, muttering something about a grumpy hermit crab. Her eyes were shut tight and her mouth moved only slightly but she was still audible. Marlin rolled his eyes as he drew nearer. He knew it wasn't fair to wake her, especially not at this hour, but he needed to share this with someone. Even though he knew she would never be able to remember half of the story afterwards.

"Dory?" he nudged her lightly.

There came no response.

"Dory?"

A snore, but no sign of a connection to the land of the living. Marlin sighed, de iding this could wait until morning. He turned to go back to the anemone...

" _Marlin_..."

He had never turned around so fast in his life. He paused for a minute to process what he had just heard. She remembered. Dory had remembered his name. That almost never happened. When it did, he probably wasn't around to hear it.

"...marlin..." she whispered again.

This time it sounded more desperate, and came out as no more than a whimper.

Marlin swam to her side and tried to sooth her back to sleep while still hoping she would at least open those pretty magenta eyes of hers. "I'm here Dory."

As he spoke, he felt her pectoral fin close around his own in a tight squeeze, the sudden contact making his scales prickle in a fish version of a blush.

" _Don't go..."_

Marlin didn't know what to do, but he suddenly felt that maybe coming over had been a mistake. Dory's hugs or finshakes always lasted so long, at this rate he would never get back to sleep, not to mention Nemo was still on his own. "I'm not going anywhere Dory," he reassured gently. He waited a while before speaking to her again. "Are you alright?"

Dory murmured something else, something about a sea monkey and a naughty shrimp, but amongst her usual chatter, Marlin was sure he had heard the word "jellyfish."

"What jellyfish?" he pressed, "Dory?" and then suddenly she made a large whimper that sounded like she was screaming even though her mouth was closed. "N-No!"

"Ssh! Dory you'll wake up the whole reef!"

Then it hit him. She was dreaming about the jellyfish forest.

That dense, nightmarish realm of poison and tentacles that threatened to sting at every turn. Those large looming creatures which could kill at one touch of their hypnotic tendrils. The ones she had warned him about. She had warned him about them. Her of all the fish in the sea who could let words slip from her tongue as if they were fresh popped bubbles, had tried to convince him that going through that trench was a bad idea, and yet he didn't listen. All the times he had cursed her stupidity he had often failed to see his own-and he had almost put her life at risk because of it. He didn't know why he went back for her, any other incident he'd have been terrified to venture back into such a place, but something about this fish drew him so close-as though he couldn't be away from her for even a second. It wasn't because he needed her to repeat the address of where they were going (he had memorized it himself from the amount of times she had chanted it) but there was something there that made him go back for her. He had saved her, not for his benefit but for hers-and now he understood.

He held her fin tighter, for she still hadn't stopped holding his through all his pondering.

"I won't go Dory. I promise." He whispered to her, and to his surprise, she smiled in her sleep and whispered back "I know Why would ya?"

Marlin gave a smile of his own, a rarity since he usually found her Short Term Memory infuriating. He glanced at the scars on her side, still leftover from her traumatic encounter with the jellyfish. Without thinking he leaned in and kissed them, and repositioned Dory so she was more comfortable. It took him a while to leave her but he finally sighed and whispered "Goodnight Dory."

Marlin returned to his anemone and pulled his sleeping boy close to his side and although the bad dreams never went away, they didn't leave him feeling as empty anymore. 


	2. Playing Games

"Where are we going?"

"Dory,I told you. We're going to pick up Nemo from school."

"Oh yeah right, sorry! Wait Harpo goes to school?"

"Yes Dory. Nemo does go to school."

"Wait so Nemo goes to school but Harpo doesn't?"

"Dory, there is no Harpo!"

"Oh you poor fish! Did you lose him too?!"

Marlin rolled his eyes, pulling himself up slightly to avoid some tall coral they had entered into. Dory immediately began to weave in and out of the cracks and crevices the rocks held, laughing as she did so. As much as Marlin hated it when she strayed away from their set path he let her have her fun and hoped she would tire out.

He watched as their neighbors drifted through the reef, flounders emerging from the seabed and gammas circling in family gatherings. He saw an old catfish resting on a rock, three smaller catfish presumably his grandchildren chasing each other around him. One tried to pull his elder off the rock but the older fish quickly shook his head, patted the youngster's fin and rested again. The little fish gave a shrug and dashed after his siblings. Marlin saw the catfish close his eyes again. His scales were a muddy brown, and his whiskers nearly reached the sand. He seemed to be on his last fins, his tail folding over, his eyes carrying sickly bags.

It took Marlin a moment or two to realize he had stopped swimming and was merely hovering in midwater. Dory on the other fin continued to dart in and out of tall mustard yellow corals and slamming her tail against the barnacles trying to make them fall. Marlin heard her excitable squeals and turned back to see the outline of blue and yellow zooming into another crevice and out again. He didn't know why but he was smiling. Smiling when he felt he wanted to do nothing but lie down and mope. Marlin was an older fish now, seeing that elderly catfish it had suddenly hit him that one day he would be that age-one day Nemo would grow old. What if Nemo never had a chance to grow old before Marlin went to the next ocean-as every fish does when he dies. Who would take care of his little son once he was gone? More importantly who could he trust enough to take care of him?

Dory emerged from a tiny cavern again after annoying a hermit crab who had been having a nap when she had knocked over his shell and had flipped him over onto his back.

"Sorry! Didn't see ya there!"

"Will you look where you're going?" the crustacean grumbled.

"Sorry Sir," sighed Marlin wearily trying to turn the crab over.

"It better-and I can do it myself thank you!" the tiny creature adjusted his shell and scuttled away into the shadows.

"Lousy anemone-dwellers...can't get a moment's peace around here…"

Marlin ignored the insult and scoured the area looking for his friend. Finally he spotted her swimming in circles, her yellow fin up to her lip as if she were thinking hard. Marlin knew that look all too well-her memory was acting up again.

Sighing and not in any mood to reprimand her he swam to her side and followed her as she paused, retracing her steps.

"Forgotten something?" he asked as softly as he could.

"Gah! Who are you?! Oh! Martin! It's you!"

"It's Mar-never mind. What's wrong?"

"Ohh...nothing. Just thinking. I remembered I was going to do something…" she rose higher in the water staring at the sunlight on the surface. "...Just can't remember what…" She stared into the blue for a long time. Marlin found himself joining her. The crystal surface sat above them, giving the ocean it's dazzling ripples which shimmered as the Australasian sun broke through.

Marlin had only ever seen it when he desperately scanning the horizon for a boat-twice.

Dory had been the only one willing to help him and although he found her habits somewhat odd and irritating at first, he admitted there was a part of him that enjoyed her spunk and her fearlessness to interact with fish he wouldn't dream of being near for fear of being swallowed whole. She had shown dedication to the entire trip, even though he had once tried to get rid of her. He couldn't believe he had almost made her leave. If he had gone on without her he never would have made it to Sydney. The fact that she had stayed even after they had found his son-he couldn't help but be eternally grateful to her.

He watched her as she began swimming in circles again, the sun rays penetrating the water shining through her black fin, creating ripples from the speed. She was still so young, that was the only explanation Marlin could think of that could could justify how anyone could be able to swim like that. He just wasn't the fish he used to be, his bones couldn't allow him to swim as fast as they had when Nemo had been a hatchling.

Dory seemed to notice her close friend's woeful expression and swam to join him. He flinched slightly as she nudged his side.

"Hey...You okay?"

Marlin sighed deeply. Should he tell her? Would she understand? Could she even comprehend the idea of ageing? It was hard to tell, considering she never seemed to act her own. "Well-no, Dory I'm not okay, really."

Dory grinned playfully. "Aww, what's up Mr Grumpy Gills?"

Marlin chuckled lightly. "Ever feel-old Dory?"

Dory thought for a minute then stared at him. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"It's-" Marlin mentally cursed himself, "You wouldn't understand."

"I could try," she whispered.

Marlin lifted his head to face her and saw her smile, eyes filled with sympathy. "Come on! Tell me and I promise I'll try not to forget."

"Alright," Marlin took a deep breath, "I'm...I'm not able to swim as fast as you, and I can't pretend to ignore it because if I do ignore it it just gets-Dory? Dory!"

The blue tang had found a large bed of sponge and was bouncing ecstatically from one to the other. "Boing! Boing! Hey check this out! Woohoo!"

Marlin groaned placing a fin to his forehead. He knew it, he knew she wouldn't understand.

Half of the time he doubted whether or not she understood when something was bothering her. Trouble was, she never seemed to have any worries of her own…

...but he knew that wasn't true.

He knew all too well that wasn't true.

Sighing he called for her to hurry up. "I want to the get to the school early!"

At this Dory bounded up to him. "Hey, how about a race!"

Marlin was startled at the very idea, didn't she hear what he just...oh wait…

"A Race?"

"Yeah, come on! It'll be fun!"

"Well...alright."

"Count of 3...on your marks, get set-3!"

She sped off through the reef. Marlin quickly recovered from the force of bubbles pushing him back as she had fled.

"Dory wait! I wasn't ready!"

He could hear her delighted squeals in the distance.

"C'mon Marley gotta go fast if you want to win!"

Marlin tried propelling himself using his tailfin and managed to catch up with her just a little. When he was swimming alongside her, she almost looked shocked,

"Heyy! How come you caught me so fast?"

Marlin laughed, "Never underestimate the speed of a clownfish Bluey!"

"Bluey?!" Dory smirked, "Oh you're going down old man!"

The two continued to dart through coral, chase each other through red anemones and hiding in seaweed. Marlin saw his opportunity when he found the emerald seagrass on it's own by the rocks. After a school of fish retreated from its leaves when he disturbed it, he nestled himself down and waited, knowing his friend wouldn't be far behind. He tried to remain still as she approached, her laughter fading.

"P-Partner? Paartner? Hey, where'd ya go?"

Marlin tried to make his escape quietly through the trails of seagrass, secretly hoping she would discover him.

"Ah, it's hide and seek now is it?

I'll seek I guess! Better watch out I'm gonna find you!"

Marlin waited and waited...but he couldn't hear her anymore. He couldn't even see her. Cautiously he emerged from his hiding place and peered out.

"Dory?"

When there was no reply, he emerged fully and started hurriedly looking around for her. Even though he knew that when Nemo wandered off for too long he never strayed too far from the anemone he would always come swimming back, Dory was a different school of fish.

"Dor-?"

"Gotcha!"

"Oof!" Marlin's calls were cut short by a sudden wash of indigo scales. Dory slammed into him full force in a tight embrace. Marlin felt her gills pulsating as they did when she was excited. "Caught ya off guard huh?"

"Y-yeah," Marlin wheezed, still chuckling "You got me." As they recovered, Marlin realised that they had reached the school in the middle of the reef, the sandy garden already teeming with parents, gathering to watch the large stingray flying overhead. Sitting atop his back were the children of the reef, all chatting excitedly about the sights they had seen on their recent adventures around the great barrier reef. Among them were four young boys and a girl, Tad,a brightly coloured butterfly fish, Sheldon, a bronze seahorse, Pearl a pink flapjack octopus, Squirt a green sea turtle and the little clownfish, Nemo with the lame fin. He had arrived home safe, Marlin noted, these field trips a reminder for him that Nemo was old enoupolo,o look out for himself.

"Dismount Explorers!" came the booming voice of Mr Ray, "We had a great lesson today, so take your little tails home and take that knowledge with you! And remember-when the Stonefish asks you to help him…"

"Avoid the spears!" chorused the children. They dispersed some swimming home, others having their parents collect them. Nemo talked to Squirt and Pearl while Tad and Sheldon chased each other. Finally he spotted Marlin and Dory at the edge of the school, Marlin looking anxious to go and Dory waving ecstatically. "Daddy!" Nemo wiggled himself polo towards them, his little fin making him slow but steady and straight into his father's fins.

"Hi son, how was it?"

"Pretty cool! We met a seasnake, a carp, a stonefish and a coel...coeli...coal….cola…"

"Coelcanth?"

"That's it! Anyway yeah we met one!"

"How interesting son!"

"Amazing!" agreed Dory, "I could speak coelacanth once but the language was sort of lost a while ago."

"Like me?" giggled Nemo.

"Son, don't joke about that," Marlin said wearily, "I've only just gotten Bob, Ted and Bill to stop talking about it."

"Hey, race ya back?" Dory offered.

"I'm tired Dory. Nemo can race with you though."

"I can?" Nemo smiled gleefully.

"Sure-just watch your fin okay?"

"Okay!"

He sped forward, "Come catch me Dory!"

"I'm gonna getcha Tito! Uh, Nemo! I'll getcha!" Dory mock-threatened.

Marlin watched as the two swam after each other, his son ducking behind coral, his best friend darting through hair of kelp. He smiled as he followed them. Once again Dory had proven she could make him feel young again...even if it cost him a broken fin or two.


	3. Chapter 3

_I wonder why the East current always flows_

_I always think it was something to do with the sea trying to reunite with itself._

_A beautiful creature once told me the East and West currents were star-crossed lovers, flowing to get back to each other._

_I was the West current. She, the East._

_Now that she had ceased to flow, you have taken her place._


	4. First Aid

As the sun rose on the Pacific one clear day and the sky and the sea matched their hue, a voice could be heard from the depths, as clear as both parties themselves.

"Just keep swimming...just keep swimming…"

It was Dory the blue tang, up early and singing merrily away to herself. She had awoken from her cave before the seawater had lightened and decided to go for a quick swim. Although her knowledge of the reef was miniscule, she often felt exploring helped to clear her head and help her retrace her tailstrokes as she could always remember what she had explored and come back to it.

The reef was practically empty apart from a few molluscs and squid bobbing aimlessly through wispy specks.

Dory swam to and fro, here and there enjoying how cool the water was so early in the day until she spotted what appeared to be a strange looking spherical rock sitting in a pool of muck.

"Huh?"

She swam down towards it to get a better look and the instant she drew near it revealed it was not a rock at all, but a strange animal.

"Heeyy! What are you doing out here little guy?"

The creature quivered in place.

"You lonesome?"

In response, the rock puffed out and immediately retraced long sharp quills from it's solid armour. Dory gasped.

"Woah! You're so cool! I wish I could that!" She attempted, closing her eyes and puffing out her cheeks and gritting her teeth while making a grunting sound. When nothing happened she reverted and chuckled "Oh wait I forgot I if I do that I can't talk! Hey wanna be my new friend?"

When it quivered in response, Dory spun around with glee creating a trail of bubbles which almost knocked the creature from its rock.

"Grrreat! I'm gonna name you ...Squishy! Hmm, wait-you're not that squishy are you? Oh, I know, Dave! No that's not right...Darwin! Nah, that name needs to evolve more, you don't see a lotta Darwins...Nemo? Pfft, that name is taken."

The creature popped it's spines again, extending them further than before.

"Heey! I got it! I'll call you Spike!"

The creature hopped from its rocky abode and landed in the stand propped up by a single spear.

"Woah! That's it huh? Welp, that settles it. I'm callin' ya Spike! Come home with me Spike!" the blue tang said, extending her fin to shake the organism's bristles

One could say Dory had no real sense of danger. She certainly knew when she was in danger and could determine real peril from a relaxed mood. She could trust a shark alright, but if a larger fish came chasing after her she would almost always be swimming for her life all the while screaming until her lungs gave out. She knew fear from fair and understood when the perfect time to panic was.

Although there was a certain middle of this fear-spectrum which caused Dory to sometimes be too trustworthy of any creature she came across, be it a mollusc or a strange looking plant, which often led to dire consequences-the first of these kinds of incidents had been her interaction with a baby jellyfish. Things had been going just fine until its family showed up, resulting in Dory earning painful scars on her right side.

"So whatcha wanna do Spike, huh? Oh! I just remembered! I have these great friends who'll be delighted to meet ya! Here, I'll take you there."

* * *

"Then there was this huge splashing noise, and we saw hundreds of em!"

Nemo and Marlin had been swimming on the flat side of the reef, past the school grounds. They had been talking about what Nemo had learned on his last field trip, how Mr Ray had taken the class to see the dolphins in their migratory pods. "And, and, and, then this one dolphin named Cedric, he, he said that he can hear whistles from his friends bounce off the rocks!"

"That sounds cool," Marlin had agreed, impressed at his son's ability to soak up information from a day ago, (fish memories aren't the worst but neither are they known for being great,)

"Yeah, he said it was called Echo-licak... lili, caketion, Echolakatikation…"

"Echolocation?" Marlin offered.

"Yeah! That's it! He said it's like singing, but only, the rocks catch your voice!"

The sound of laughter caught the elated clownfish's attention as Tad, Sheldon and Pearl swam out from behind a rock, involved in some sort of game. Tad was balancing a sea sponge on his nose, while Sheldon had algae hanging from his tail and Pearl held a frond in one of her tentacles.

"Hey Dad! It's my friends! Can I go play?"

Marlin looked at the surface ripples, "It's late noon…"

"Pleeeeeasse?" Nemo begged.

"Yeah Mr Marlin Sir," said Tad swimming over, "Can Nemo come and play too?"

"Oh, alright," smiled Marlin, "but I want to see you back at the anemone by dusk you hear?"

"I promise!"

"Good boy."

Nemo hugged his father and raced off as quickly as his lucky fin would allow him. "You know, my Dad was right!" announced Tad, "for a clownfish, your Dad's pretty serious!"

Marlin shook his head chuckling and made his way to the bottom. The open water still made him uneasy but seeing the inside of a pelican's gullet will make you less scared of anything.

Along the shimmering patterns created by the surface was nothing but seaweed and pebbles; traffic was almost unnoticeable that day, everything just seemed calm.

"Ow…"

Marlin shook his head thinking he had sand in his hearing crevices. What was that? Bigger fish? Nope, sounded too small. He listened but couldn't seem to hear any other indication of another's presence, it must have been his imagination.

"Oww…"

There it was again, muffled yet audible. He saw someone swimming towards him in the distance- something large and bright and blue and…

"Dory!"

He hurried to reach her. She was moving at an incredible slow pace, which wasn't normal for a fish like her...especially her.

As he swam nearer, he saw she was covering her left fin and was breathing very heavily. Although she looked pleased to see him, she definitely didn't hide the hurt in her eyes.

"Dory! What's the matter! What happened? Are you alright?!" the questions came flying.

"N-No," she gasped, "I-think I brushed up against something."

She took her fin away and much to Marlins horror revealed a sharp, violet needle embedded in it.

"Oh my goodness! Dory, Dory Dory, what did you do?" he asked frantically.

Dory covered her fin again. "I don't remember-AH! I think the last thing I did was stick my fin near something...we were playing...:"

"Dory who's we?"

"Spike!" wailed Dory as she remembered, "That's what I called my new friend and I picked him up and I was clumsy and I dropped him and he rolled away!" She began to cry softly.

Marlin slapped a fin to his forehead, "Dory! Spike was a sea urchin! They're dangerous, what have I told you about playing with dangerous creatures?"

"Umm...uh…"

Marlin sighed, and softened his tone. "If it has spikes, keep away. If it has tentacles, steer clear and if it looks poisonous…"

Dory thought for a moment, "No! Don't touch!"

"Exactly! Dory, we've been over this before! How come you can remember to stay away from the anemone but every "friend" you pick up wants to kill me?"

Dory's face fell, and she clutched her fin again. Marlin realised there wasn't much time to lose. This urchin could have been toxic! It could have injected its venom into her bloodstream already!

"Come here, let me see!" She instantly backed off, "No, don't touch it, don't touch it-!"

"Dory I'm not going to touch it! I just need to see how far it's gone in. If not, you could be seriously hurt. Now please let me see."

Dory hesitated but she showed him her fin. Marlin tried to avoid any sign of a cringe. It had pierced its way in very deep but luckily hadn't seemed to hit anything major.

He had had experience in checking for and removing any quills, leeches, scale rot or stings, since he had a young boy who often liked to play rough and tumble outside the anemone despite his father's fears over his special fin. Dory was no exception, so he had to lay out some ground rules whenever the risk of jellyfish or urchins were posed.

Dory looked at her companion, his face furrowed in concentration, as he studied the bright yellow of her fin, his own tracing the black lining to make sure no after-dots of ink had shot their way in.

"Hmm." he muttered.

"What? Is it bad Doc?"

"No Dory, you're gonna be fine. But we need to get this out." He scoured the sand looking for any shells. "I wonder if there are any sharp objects lying around?"

"Hey here's something!" came Dory's cheery voice. Marlin was horrified to see her holding a crab by the claws.

"Dory, NO!"

"What? He's just sleeping."

She tossed it lightly and it floated down again creating a small trail of dust. Marlin cautiously swam over to inspect it, and realised it wasn't a crab at all-it was the exoskeleton of one. The real crab must have molted, and scuttled off with its new shell.

"Oh. Uh. Sorry Dory. Good thinking."

Careful not to get his fins caught in them, Marlin plucked of a pitcher and opened it a little.

"Is this gonna hurt?" Dory whimpered.

"It might just a little," Marlin said, "but don't worry okay, just hold still…"

Dory did anything but "hold still". She shook like a piece of seagrass. Eventually she relaxed her fin and let Marlin slowly use the pincer as a tweezer to pull the spike out.

"Ready?"

"Uh-huh."

Marlin slowly dragged it out, knowing the worst thing would be to yank it. Dory winced in pain but tried to keep a brave face until the end. It wasn't until it got stuck halfway that the pincer stopped working.

"Ow ow ow ow ow owowowowowOWWWW!"

"Ssh, ssh, I know Dory I know."

"You can say that, you haven't been jabbed!"

"Believe me I have. I live in an anemone, now keep still I have an idea."

Dory continued to whimper and wail, until she was silenced by Marlin gently taking her good fin and stroking it. "You're gonna be alright Dory, I promise."

"You promise?"

"I promise. Do you trust me?"

Immediately Dory nodded, "Of course I trust you, trusting is what friends do!"

"Good. I'll always be your friend. Ready?"

She gulped but closed her eyes to show she was.

Marlin put his mouth to her fin to use his tiny teeth to grab the end of the spike and hauled it out in one tug.

"AHHH!" Dory screamed, "Son of a sea monkey, that stings!"

Marlin almost expertly spat out the spike and checked over Dory's fin. "Not a lot of damage, looks like a tiny wound but it should heal in a couple days. I suggest no more shark meetings for a while"

Dory rolled her eyes, "Aw come on! Bruce has been fish free for 12 weeks, he can take it!"

"Uh-huh? Well, I don't wanna take that risk. You're coming right home with me."

Dory didn't argue. She followed alongside him, smiling, the pain from earlier completely forgotten.

"Heey. Ya know what's funny?"

"What?"

"I knew you were a clownfish. I didn't know you were a surgeonfish too!"

Marlin looked up and burst out laughing. Had she actually been paying attention to his lame jokes? "Dory that's brilliant! Did you come up with that?"

Dory laughed. "Yup! I don't get it."

Marlin chuckled, "Come on, Nemo should be home soon."


	5. Shark Meeting

"Dory, I'm really not comfortable about this…"

"Why not?"

"Why not," she says! Could it be because the last time we went to one of Bruce meetings he tried to eat us in one bite?!"

"Oh don't be so uptight!"

"I'm no-"

"Don't worry about it! Fish are Friends remember?"

Marlin did remember; but one whiff of blood from a larger fish and the whole "fish are friends," motto was completely fried.

Dory had been the one eager for him to follow her that morning after dropping Nemo off at school, madly blabbering away about some "incredible thing" she had found and she was joyful Marlin couldn't help but swim after her in curiosity. It turned out she had tricked him into going along with her to one of her monthly meetings with some sharp-toothed friends, damn her and her hidden cleverness. He had to hand it to her that her acting was spot on, but that didn't excuse the fact that they could possibly be about to have another brush with death.

"Dory, how do you even know Bruce is telling the truth when he says he's clean?"

Dory looked dumbstruck. "Woah partner, that's pretty offensive! Brucie is perfectly trustworthy and besides he's trying to cut down!"

Marlin sighed, "I'm sorry. But "cut down," isn't exactly "Stop," is it?"

Dory let out a small hmph. "He's probably eaten less fish than you have."

"A lot less I'm sure," Marlin deadpanned.

The two came closer to the darker depths of the sea, where the reef is replaced with white sand and safety is traded for vulnerability. The large, looming shapes of underwater mines, some charred with chunks missing, came into view as did an enormous submarine, wedged between two rocks, blocking the abyss below. Marlin gulped out of habit, but Dory looked at the place as if it were the prettiest of kelp gardens.

"Wow! The balloons are still here-aww, somebody popped the good ones!"

"Dory that was us! We popped them."

"Oh yeah! The party, I almost forgot!"

"Did you almost forget how we nearly became lunch too?"

"Uh…...Yes!"

As they came nearer, they spotted the shapes of dorsal fins and long grayish tails sweep through the cracks in the vessel. "Look there they are, there they are!" Dory shouted in glee, recognising her shark companions. She practically stretched the clownfish's fin, who shook his head furiously.

"Dory not so loud, you might alert-"

He stopped short after he felt breathing on his scales. Shaking in place he slowly turned around to be faced with that same wide grin filled with razor sharp teeth, and stare into those narrowed eyes which always seemed to hold a wicked glint. He was not disappointed...well, he was disappointed but he his gut had told the truth.

"Hello Mates," smiled the great white in his thick Australian accent. "Long time no see."

Dory wasted in no time in shooting herself towards him in an embrace, not seeming to care that Bruce's pectorals could have likely squashed her if he wanted.

"Bruce I missed you soooo much!"

"Missed you too Dory," replied the shark this time a genuine smile shining through, "How've ya been?"

"Oh ya know swimmin' around, riding turtles, bouncing jellies, bursting bubbles, all that neat stuff!"

"Sounds fun. And how 'bout you mate?" he said turning to Marlin.

"Me?" squeaked Marlin, "I-I-I've been fine, no problems at all."

"How's that little boy of yours?"

"N-Nemo's f-fine," he stuttered trying his hardest not to focus on all those sharp teeth.

"Well speakin' of fish friends let's get down to business," said the shark leading them inside the sub. Emerging from the crevices were two other sharks, Anchor a hammerhead and Chum a shorfin mako. Dory practically torpedoed towards them for a hug.

"Well if it isn't Blue 2!"

"Welcome back mates!"

"Blue 2?" Marlin asked Bruce.

"We use nicknames around here since it's a casual enviroment," Anchor explained.

"Yeah, like Dory here," said Chum hugging her close under his fin, "Is Blue 2 because we used to 'av this other blue fish friend, but uh-he-no longer attends…"

Marlin cringed.

"Right then! All inside!" Bruce ordered firmly yet warmly, "Show's about to begin!"

A few moments later, the three large fish and their tiny friends all gathered around an old algae covered podium that had once been used for Captain announcements decades before. Marlin had taken his place in between Dory and Chum, (though he was slightly wary as although the mako was as tame as a sea cucumber he had been known to show disregard for personal space. Dory offered Marlin a comforting smile, setting him at ease to prepare for another stranger moment in his life to take place. Bruce rang the bell to signal the beginning of the gathering and cleared his throat.

"G'day everyone! The meeting has officially come to order! Let us all say the pledge."

Each fish raised a fin and began the speech which had now become so well known amongst the reef folk-and much to his surprise Marlin found himself joining in.

" _I am a nice shark._

_Not a mindless eating machine._

_If I am to change this image._

_I must first change myself._

_Fish are Friends, Not Food."_

"Except the narhwhals," muttered Chum.

"Ooh! Don't even say their name it make my denticles crawl mate!" grimaced Anchor.

"Yeah, think they're so great just they got I a sword built on their heads!"

"What even are you? A whale or a sea unicorn?" scoffed Anchor and Chum giggled.

"Alright Alright, settle down boys. Today's meetin' is Step 7: Resisting the Urge. Now this one ain't gonna be easy mates because as we all know it is a shark's natural instinct to nosh on the bones of other fishies"-Marlin semi-fainted-"But today we are going to prove that just because Mother Nature made us sharks, does not mean she can order what we eat or smell. So to each of you I am going to bring out a specific type of trigger food which you will be faced with conquering.

"Oh please don't be stingrays mate…" Anchor was whimpering, "anythin' but bloody stingrays…"

Chum looked equally worried rocking back and forth, his fins in his mouth.

"Don't worry, it's all parta the exposure therapy. You don't eat the fish, you have achieved the step. You're up first Chum!"

"Good Luck Buddy!" whispered to him.

"Th-Thanks Dory."

Bruce readied his fin to be brought down on something. Marlin could see it was a large wooden chest, rotting from years of saltwater. "Now it's simple Chum. When this bugger comes out, ya must stay completely still, no matter how fast he goes. I've given the little fella some food to make him sleepy but its effects should have worn off by now and he should be right chipper!"

Chum tried to control his raging instincts.

"Ready?" Bruce boomed.

Chum nodded and Bruce's fin broke the latch with a crash. Instantly an enormous tuna came speeding out of the crate and began shooting around the room. Marlin screamed and ducked as the fish ricocheted off the sub's walls. Dory was in the middle of it all and once or twice Marlin had to grab her fin to steer her away from the flurry of blue gills. Bruce however seemed to find it very amusing. "Look at 'im go!" the great white laughed heartily. "You alright there Chum?"

Chum looked far from alright. The grey had drained from his gills and he shook furiously in place and to Marlins horror the whites of his eyes were starting to appear. Makos are the fastest sharks in the sea and the quickest of movements is enough to send them into a frenzy.

"Hold it together Chum!" urged Bruce, "You're nearly there, just a few more seconds!"

Chum could bear it no longer. His eyes suddenly turned pitch black and he tore off after the tuna.

"Dory look out!" said Marlin pushing her away from Chum's path. Anchor was the first to leap to attention grabbing Chum's tail with his teeth, (with great difficulty due to his odd head shape) and tried to drag him away from the tuna, only this time things became even worse because Chum would occasionally start snapping viciously. "Fith 're Fwiens not Foo!" said Anchor through Chum's tail. Marlin and Dory had taken shelter on the bottom of the sub waiting until it was all over. Finally Bruce saw it was time to intervene. "Chum! Listen to me!" he said swimming over, "You're alright buddy, you're nearly there" he said restraining him. Finally, the tuna swam out of the sub and Chum's eyes began to revert and he blinked wearily, "What happened?"

"Ya did it Chum you did it mate!" said Bruce and he and Anchor delightedly took to come congratulating their friend by slapping him on the back.

"Heh. I passed? I passed!"

"Wooh!" Dory screamed propelling herself upward from the bottom of the sub with Marlin following cautiously close behind.

"Right then, Anchor, you're next!"

The hammerhead swam towards the box full of dread. Marlin saw this and tapped him before he took his turn. "Uh excuse me…" he tried not to look put off by Anchor's flat head which was the last thing most fish saw before their death, "Um...good luck?"

"Much obliged mate."

Dory winked at him out of the corner of her eye. It always astounded Marlin that if Dory wasn't talking constantly, just one look could mean "You can do it!" or "That's the spirit!" which was probably the reason he had allowed her to drag him out here-just one pleading look and he could be convinced to attach himself to a hook.

"Drop anchor!" Bruce joked, "Ready yaself!"

Anchor didn't look like he was ready for anything but he still braced himself for the worst.

The crate was smashed again and this time a pygmy stingray flew out muttering how cramped it was and how uncivil everyone was being.

"This one's feisty," said Bruce, "but keep it up and wait him out, he'll find the exit soon."

The stingray huffed and glided amongst the rotten wood looking for an opening. Anchor looked determined yet still something flashed across his eyes. The stingray glided through a board and was out in three minutes, just as the whites of the hammerhead's eyes began to show.

"Well done Anchor! It's all over mate!"

"Thank you," breathed Anchor. He had controlled himself considerably better than Chum but Marlin still couldn't help but hide behind his blue friend the entire time.

"Alright, excellent work today everyone," Bruce addressed them, "Dory, we all know you've been keeping progress so you don't need to do this step."

"Phew! I'm glad that's over and done with!" the blue tang replied.

"There's just one final thing left to do…"

The shark left the quartet to rummage in the next cabin. He came back with what looked like half a fish body.

Marlin found this too much and Dory had to catch him.

"Bruce…" said Anchor…"Is that a…"

"Sure is mate," he sniffed the fish, "a prime mullet. Found this after some tiger fella was done with it. Lucky I managed to get the remains."

"But that's-" Chum whispered.

"Blood? Too right, and I'm gonna test myself to prove I'm no longer a killing machine."

"Brucie," stammered Anchor, "You do remember what happened the last time you smelled blood, don't ya?"

"Dory's blood?" added Chum.

"Blood? What blood? My blood? Pfft!" said Dory, "don't worry about it, I've lost more getting my tail caught in a clam playing tag!"

"Anyway, here goes…"

Bruce waved the fish around leaving scarlet trails in the water, filling the whole quarter with strange swirling patterns of diluted fish blood. Marlin covered his face and Dory looked horrified but intrigued. The other two sharks looked like they would rather be anywhere else, trying to do anything but inhale the blood. Bruce on the other hand swam right through it, gathering enough to go into his left nostril. His eyes began to change.

"Oh no…" cringed Anchor, ready to call for an intervention at any moment.

There was no intervening however, as no sooner had the blood began to dispel Bruce laughed and returned to his own self without so much as a bite. "What did I tell ya everyone? I'm clean!"

Enormous applause erupted from his comrades, including Marlin who at the very least was glad he wasn't dead.

"Alright, the meeting is officially over. Many hurdles were swam today gentleman, we should all be very proud of ourselves."

As the two fish swam away from the sub, Bruce called back to them.

"Oh and Dory!"

"Yeah?"

"Make sure you don't forget the next one!"

"I promise I'll remember!"

"Remind her now mate!" he called to Marlin.

"I will-thank you!"

"And remember: Fish are Friends-"

"Not Food!" both finished together. They each looked at each other, Marlin be owing rather lost in Dory's wide eyes before she yelled. "Jinx!"


	6. The Reason Why

The emerald seaweed

The sapphire waves

Beneath a muted amethyst sky

The diamond surf , the jet black rocks

Maybe they're the reason why

The strong wind blows

The monsoon howls

The water roars as it rises high

The white foam, the grey waves

Maybe they're the reason why

A broken conch, a shattered shell

A mermaid purse

A smashed up coral, the end is nigh

A battered stone

Maybe they're the reason why

A grinning shark

A flying gull

A dolphin's cheerful loving cry

A singing whale

Maybe _you're_ the reason why...


	7. Impressions

"Dad, who made these?" Nemo asked pointing his lucky fin towards some clumps of coral.

"Well, nature did, son," Marlin answered. "Nature forms everything."

"But why?"

"Well because it wants us to have good homes."

"Why?"

"Well...we can't have...fish all alone without a place to stay."

"...Why?"

"Uh...because...because...uh the corals are….magic….yeah, magic like our anemone which protects us from bigger fish. It's why we can't get stung."

"Oh," sighed Nemo, "okay…"

"What's wrong, son?"

"It's just...Sandy Plankton from next door says that coral grows because of seaquakes and that the coral were once fish like us but they got frozen after the seabed shook."

This time it was Marlin's turn to sigh. "Maybe you should stop listening to Sandy Plankton."

"Hey Barto!" called Dory who was swimming behind.

"Nemo," Marlin corrected.

"Oh, darnit! Nemo sorry! Your Dad's right ya know...about the coral being magic."

" _I am?"_ Marlin mumbled.

"Wow, Cool!" said Nemo.

"Yeah! My mom used to tell me the corals were planted there by a mystic force."

"Dory what was your mother like?" Nemo asked curiously.

Dory thought for a moment. "I forget. But she said a lot of cool stuff."

Marlin always wondered why Dory couldn't remember of all things, her family. He had always just assumed she never talked about them because of her affliction that is, more than that he just never wanted to pry.

Suddenly, a loud whoosh from overhead caused the trio to look up-the moonfish were gliding in circles above them, their silver scales creating patterns on the seabed.

"Oh look son!" said Marlin pointing upwards, "those are the fish that gave us directions to Sydney."

Nemo's face lit up. "Where I was? Cool!"

"Cool indeed."

Dory looked urgent all of a sudden, watching the fish as the began to swim into the distance. "Hey! Hey wait up a minute!" she shot towards them, leaving Marlin and Nemo confused and concerned.

"Dad, what's wrong with Dory?" Nemo asked.

What isn't wrong with Dory? thought Marlin, but he didn't say that out loud.

"Hey! Woah there! Guys, wait up!"

Dory raced after the shoal as they threatened to scatter towards another direction. Suddenly they turned around in one sharp _swoosh_. "Well, Well Well, if it isn't the little blue lady?" said the leader. How ya bin?"

"Great thanks!"

"Say did you and your little clownfish buddy ever find Sydney?"

Dory thought for a moment. Had they ever made it? Her memory wasn't going to be the best judge of that. Although she could remember a few boats, a friendly pelican, a large whale and a swarm of seagulls. Now that she thought about it, she had seen the name written down somewhere, and the word definitely rang a bell...after a few moments and the school of fish waiting patiently for an answer she responded, "Yes, I think."

"What was it you two were looking for again? Hang on, let us take a guess." Almost instantly they arranged themselves into the shape of a fish that resembled Marlin. "Clown boy was looking for his little clown boy right?" The shape of the fish shrunk considerably.

"Oh yeah! Zero!"

"Zero? Last time we heard it it was Fabio," laughed the fish.

"Him too!"

"Dory!" The blue tang spun around to see Nemo bobbing towards her, giving it all his might, his lucky fin propelling him forward slowly but surely. Marlin followed hurriedly behind, ready to steer Nemo in case he stumbled. The little clownfish finally made it into Dory's outstretched fins.

"Well looky here, it's the little guy himself!" Nemo jumped slightly and hid behind his father.

"Ted? What have I told you about scaring smaller fish?"

"Sorry!" came a meek voice from the crowd.

"Who are you guys?" Nemo asked.

"Some call us thespians but we prefer the term actors. We are the greatest impressionists in the sea." they chorused.

Marlin rolled his eyes.

"Saw that buddy!"

"What?"

Nemo looked up at them with wide eyes, his fear diminishing. "Wow cool! I'm Nemo!"

"Well, Kid's got all kinds of names!" laughed the moonfish.

"Only according to Dory," Nemo replied. "She can't remember things too well."

"Yep. I'd forget my own head if it wasn't attached to my shoulders...wait...do I _have_ shoulders?"

The moonfish laughed, "Hey, you two wanna see some impressions?"

"Yes! Please Dad?" Nemo pleaded.

"Yeah, please Dad?" Dory said begging too.

Marlin mused. "A few couldn't hurt, I suppose-"

"Watch This!" The school of silver fish instantly rearranged themselves in the form of a giant cephalopod. "Know what this is kid?"

"Oh, I saw that fish with Mr Ray! He said it was called a...Squad?"

"Squid!" Dory corrected, amazed herself that she had done so.

"Yeah that's it!"

"Great Job!" The fish immediately arranged themselves into a pair of clapping human hands. "Let's up the ante gentlemen!"

The fish twisted and turned into a lobster, a crab, a boat and an odd one that Nemo couldn't really figure out until Dory confirmed it was a seashell.

Marlin by this point had forgotten his uptight attitude and began to loosen up and enjoy himself, mostly because he was glad his son was having fun and his best friend was safe from any danger-at least for the moment.

The fish merged together to create another great shape, this time a huge mass of space, with an enormous tail. Nemo and Dory looked confused.

"Take a guess, any guess!"

"Um…" Nemo shrugged, "looks like a dolphin?"

"Pretty close! Try again kid!"

"Okay, is it another ship?"

"Nope! Think big and blue."

Marlin squinted at the shape. It didn't look like any animal he knew or had come across, it just seemed like a large blob with a tail. Although one creature did spring to mind…

"We'll give you a hint," ten or so of the moonfish traveled up the shape and shot from its top creating the illusion of a jetstream of ocean spray. Dory suddenly shrieked "It's a whale! It's a whale!"

"Ding! And the Lady takes home the grand prize How do you feel?"

"Pretty great! Jalepeño here got more than I did, but it's about taking part that counts I guess. Also I love whales! You know I speak whale-!"

"Really?" chorused the moonfish, "Can we have a sample?"

Marlin tensed as Dory nodded vigorously gathering large breathes of water to ready herself for a loud cry of a humpback or an orca or or…

" _IIIII'mmm soooo pleeeeased WEEEEE swan iinto eeach oooother!"_ Dory sang.

Marlin had no idea what kind of whale she was mimicking but it certainly wasn't what he had expected. This sounded...different to her previous vocalisations. Almost…. _pretty_ …

Dory finished on a high note and the fish applauded again while she bowed her head theatrically.

"Thank you, it's a gift, runs in the family, I THINK."

"Good show little lady! Well we gotta get swimming! Be seeing ya!"

"Aw, so no more games?" sighed Nemo.

"Well one more impression couldn't hurt. Wanna see our impression of your Dad?"

"Yeah!"

"ACTUALLY I think we better get along too," said Marlin hurriedly stepping in before his buttons were pushed. "We are out for a swim and I think we're planning to go to the EAC later."

Although Nemo protested slightly the idea of visiting Squirt excited him that he couldn't complain for long, and Dory was beside herself at the idea of riding a current and playing tag with baby cute turtles. "We'll meet again soon!" the moonfish called as they sped off into the terqouise ocean.

"Goodbye!" called Marlin.

"Bye Guys!" said Nemo waving his lucky fin.

"Oh Look, Fish!" cried Dory.

"So Dory," Marlin asked, "What kind of whale was that?"

"Hm? Oh that I was speaking? Why? "

"Yes. It sounded nice...for a change."

Dory smirked. "Humpback isn't that thick a dialect!" Then with a softer smile she added. "Beluga. It was beluga whale."

"Huh. I didn't know you could speak beluga."

Dory paused her smile fading for a moment, as though she were lost in her own world. "Neither did I."


	8. Sleep Swimming

"Haha! I caught you I caught you! I caught you!"

"Stop it! No-that tickles!"

"Gotta swim quicker then!"

On a usual golden evening on the Great Barrier Reef in the wide blue Pacific nothing of great importance or excitement was occurring, it was mostly schools of fish gliding through the undertow and riding its currents or sea anemones swaying daintily in the tropical breeze whilst the creatures inside of them slept of a good filling meal of plankton and brown algae.

This was not one of those days.

"You've gotta be fast if you wanna wiiin!" Dory called gleefully to the three young fish behind her. Nemo, Sheldon, Tad and Pearl propelled themselves after her as she darted expertly through coral after coral cheerfully reminding them more than twice that she was almost at the finish line, a bed of sponges a couple of metres away.

"She's...too...fast." panted Sheldon stopping to curl his tail around some nearby weed.

"Yeah," sighed Tad, "She's too fast even for me!" Butterflyfish were keen and swift swimmers able to reach speeds which left seahorses unfurled from their seaweed and miniature octopi in a pool of their own jet ink.

Dory, a sleek and large regal blue tang did all she could to win a race against the young fish, even if that sometimes meant tickling them to throw off their balance momentarily as she sped past them.

"Hurry!" said Pearl using her short pink tentacles as a propeller to peddle herself ahead of the two boys, "Maybe if we follow her bubble trail we'll catch up!"

"What good's that going to do?" asked Tad.

"Well, you know Dory. She gets distracted easily. She'll probably stop to look at a pretty shell or something and we can get ahead."

"Sounds plausible," shrugged Sheldon, still clutching his strand of seaweed.

"Well hurry before they disappear!" urged Tad pointing to the bubbles.

Nemo swam as fast as he could with his little fin also trying to follow the bubbles and pinpoint his friend's direction. She may not have had the most agile memory, but Mr Ray had told the class that fish like Dory had the "upper fin" in evolution.

The four swam as fast as they could to follow the tiny vapor trail through the cyan blue water until they eventually found Dory lying flat across one of the sponge beds. She had won. Groaning but laughing a little at their loss, the young fish swam to meet her. Her fins were stretched across her sides, a sign she was relaxed and she had the most satisfied smile on her face. She looked up at them as they approached. "Meno! Corden! Chad! Twirl! Hi-she paused looking around, surveying her surroundings. "Did I win?"

The four laughed. "Yes!" they chorused.

"Oh! Well then...haha! Beat ya to it!"

"Only 'cause you cheated!" smirked Tad.

The adult fish pretended to look wounded. Me? Cheat! You gotta be kidding me!" She noticed how springy and soft the sponges were and cried out, "Oh Oh Idea! Who wants to jump on the beds?"

Among the chorus of "Me, Me!" came the sound of an older voice, one with a more nervous lilt to it.

"Dory?"

Instantly Dory's dorsal fin perked up. Who was that? She knew the voice...but couldn't match it to the fish it belonged to…

"Nemo?!" the voice called again sounding more frantic. Dory turned and saw a new shape of orange and white appear over the algae-covered rocks. The shape was quivering and turning its head in all directions. Wait a second…

"Dad!" Nemo called out.

Marlin who had been pacing around the reef for as long as the sun had shown signs of setting looking for his missing friend paused and swam over. "Oh thank goodness," he breathed. "It's time to go home you guys."

"Whhaat? Already?" Dory half moaned, half yawned.

"Afraid so. Come on you two, say goodbye."

Nemo groaned but didn't put up any argument. "See ya guys."

"Bye Nemo!" called the three spinning around and making for the reef.

"You kids get home safe now!" Marlin called after them, "Your parents won't be happy if they find out I'm covering for your trips off the reef again!"

"Will do, Mr Nemo's Dad, Sir!" Tad called back cheekily.

"Dad, why can't I play a little longer?"

"Because it's not good for your fin. And anyway, it's sunset Nemo," he caught him in an embrace "You know what that means?"

"Time for guppies to go to bed," Nemo said rolling his eyes knowing the old tune his father used to lull him to sleep with.

"That's my boy," said Marlin kissing his forehead.

"Um...Dad? What's wrong with Dory?"

Marlin glanced at his blue tang companion and saw that she was lying flat across one of the sponge beds-a normal occurrence for many fish but it still struck him a little to see her lying down in any situation after her horrific encounter with toxic jellyfish. He held in a momentary breath before seeing her gills deflate and pulse as usual. She had only fallen asleep.

"I think all that swimming has tired her out," he replied.

"How are we gonna get her home?"

Marlin thought for a moment analysing his sleeping friend. Dory was much larger than a clownfish, and while she wasn't exactly heavy it would be a chore to carry her all the way back to the anemone. Finally he decided; "We better help her back I think. But first Nemo you're going to have to help _me_."

Marlin grabbed Dory's left fin and Nemo swam over to grab her right. "Ready?" his father said. Nemo nodded. "Okay on three, One...Two...Three."

They pulled Dory from her soft haven and did their best to lift her up to stop her floating down to the sandy bottom. Her eyes were shut tight and she was beginning to snore loudly. How anyone could be that much of a heavy sleeper Marlin would never understand.

"Now what Dad?"

Marlin lifted his friend higher slightly and whispered to her. "Psst...Dory. Dooory?"

When she didn't stir he gently nudged her side and she let out a mumble. She was so estranged from the land of the living that it was almost impossible for him not to smile. "It's alright Dory, you're just tired. We're going to take you home now, okay?"

Dory muttered something incoherent but Marlin decided to take it as an answer. "Alright, Nemo and I are right beside you, you'll be home in no time."

The regal blue tang found herself in another state altogether. It was incredible to think that a mere day of play could shut her down when the white moon appeared on the ocean's surface. She was having the strangest dream...two orange guardians were guiding her through a dark mist. It was all too probable her mind would erase it when she awoke but for now it was best to enjoy it.

Meanwhile the clownfish steering her away from sharp coral and sudden currents were nearing their shelter for the night.

"Dad, why does Dory do this?" Nemo yawned sleepily.

"Do what son?"

"Be super fun one minute and the next we have to carry her home."

Marlin reflected on this. It was not uncommon for any fish to tire themselves after a long day of swimming and playing but Dory seemed to be something else. She was definitely the most bubbly and spontaneous fish he knew but she was also the least picky. She would sleep anywhere, even the inside of an old oyster. He on the other hand would sleep in the anemone and nowhere else, unless the situation was extreme. Sleeping in a diver's mask hadn't exactly been the most comfortable feeling but Dory certainly thought of it as a peaceful spot where she could snore and talk aloud all night long. He had to admit she did fall asleep too often than he would have tolerated. When he was trying to have a serious conversation with her about how the anemone is a poisonous animal not a "pretty plant," she would drift off in the middle of the lecture. "DORY!" he would shout shocking her awake. She would rub her eyes and sleepily reply "Oh, no I was listening-"

"Then what did I just say?"

"Umm...that this pretty flower isn't safe to touch because it gives you ick?"

"Close enough," Marlin would frown and mutter. As long as she knew there was something dangerous about it, he could rest easy.

Dory shivered in her sleep and instinctively Marlin moved between his son and his friend and grabbed both their fins pulling them closer to avoid the currents. There were frequent tropical storms around the evening in the Pacific. Marlin hoped Nemo's friends had made it home safely. Dory snored loudly and Marlin winced groaning. If she were to draw attention to them and wake up an eel or a stonefish or worse, a shark, he didn't even want to think about what would happen to Nemo. Dory he always thought handled things better on her own. He could never imagine her feeling lost or afraid, unless of course her memory was hindering her more than usual. If a potential predator did approach it was most likely she would try and befriend it before swimming for her life. While she had been an asset in aiding him find Nemo using these instincts alone, she really did cause him to wonder whether or not she had true any common sense.

"Dad?"

"Yes Son?" said Marlin snapping out of his thoughts.

"Do you like Dory?"

Marlin paused for a minute seeing the hurt in his son's eyes. "Of course I do. Everybody on the reef likes Dory. What makes you think I don't?"

"Well...You're always telling her off or trying to ruin her fun."

Marlin looked puzzled. "No, that's ridiculous Son. She's perfectly free to go wherever she likes. She's her own fish, Nemo. I worry when she strays too far, sure but it's her memory that concerns me. But I'm not too restrictive. Am I?"

Nemo nodded. "Sometimes you are. You're always telling her what she can and can't do and ordering where she can swim and sometimes when she tries to play with you or talk to you, you just say "Not now." What do you mean when you say that Daddy?"

Marlin looked down a little crestfallen. Not now. Yes, he remembered saying that. Although he couldn't even begin to tell Nemo what plagued his mind when he did so. It had been many years, but he had still never fully recovered from the shock of his mate's death. He would often awake to terrifying nightmares which ended in the sound of jaws crunching and teeth scraping. Dory would often visit him the following morning as bubbly and excitable as ever. While she tried to tell him her dreams of riding on the shells of turtles or flying in a pelican's pouch his mind would wander and he would find himself telling her with a sigh to leave him alone. Dory would look surprised but wouldn't bother him again. Once or twice however, he had emerged from the anemone to find her waiting for him, pretending to avoid being seen or nestling in her hut of brain coral beaming at him and greeting "Ooh Good, you're awake! Wanna talk?"

Then they would. They would talk long into the afternoon until Nemo arrived back from school-and he liked talking to her. Although she could speak incessantly, he also found her to be quite a good listener. He could talk freely to her about his anxieties and found that she would swim in silence beside him and occasionally interject, sometimes changing the subject. Whether she remembered their conversations or not was up for discussion but it still felt good to have someone to talk to.

Yet he did push her away at times. He did reprimand her if she did something rash or idiotic. He reprimanded her more than he did Nemo. It hurt him a little to see it upset his son so much.

"Well…" he said at last, "Yeah. I do."

"Will Dory stay with us forever Dad?"

Marlin swallowed. Dory had shown no signs of leaving yet. She probably had relatives somewhere worrying about her, although it seemed plausible that they had abandoned her, something that sickened him. Dory could be childish and he may have argued slightly insane but to abandon any child at any age-maybe it was a blue tang thing. Maybe they didn't keep their children close to home as clownfish did and cared for their children in a different way. Crush the Sea Turtle had informed him that his children had hatched from land and found their own way back to the sea. Dory could possibly still be looking for her home. Though she seemed perfectly comfortable staying around himself and Nemo, and had no intention of going back as a shark does after it hatches. It would certainly make sense since she saw sharks as equals.

It was dark by the time they arrived back at the anemone. Nemo helped his father to nudge Dory slowly into her brain coral and position her comfortably. "She'll play with me in the morning, right Dad?"

"I'm sure she will," Marlin smiled, "Now off to bed. I'll be there soon."

"Night Dory," Nemo whispered as he swam into the anemone.

Marlin lingered for a moment, wondering if Dory would sleep swim again. It was true that while he admired her desire for adventure even in slumber, he worried that that adventure would come to a halt before she even woke up. That was it, he thought. He didn't keep her from swimming too far off the reef because he found her a nuisance who needed constant care. It was because he worried about her as he did Nemo.

"Night Dory," he said smiling and following his son. He hoped that a nightmare wouldn't disturb his thoughts so much that it hurt his head in the morning. He was looking forward to another long talk.


	9. Marlin to Dory

_You were with me when I needed help_

_To find a beloved of mine_

_You never strayed away from me_

_And assured me I'd be fine_

_I was with you found your home_

_Your face and eyes did shine_

_You were worried they would refuse you_

_I assured you you'd be fine_


	10. Small Talk

There are certain sea creatures who once being released from captivity or transferred to another facility will eventually adapt to their surroundings. They will make their home in the coral or the sand or small caves to hide from predators. Some will use their camouflage abilities to their advantage by transforming themselves into dainty strands of seagrass or covering themselves in mud mimicking the menacing stonefish or showing off their flashing vivid colours to fool predators into thinking they were poisonous. Whatever their option they eventually adjusted.

Hank was not one of those creatures.

The septopus, who had spent his days inside a glass box filled with fresh saltwater and loaded with food every day and a sandstone hut to hide from the interfering eyes of visitors and the prodding hands of small children was needless to say not settling into life on the reef very well. For one, Dory had somehow convinced him to follow her and her two orange fish friends all the way across the ocean which included a day of travelling through the most unbearable current with the most insufferable sea turtle who let his children do whatever they pleased, including constant questions of "how did you lose your tentacle?" and "why are you so squishy?" The latter accompanied by constant touching which he despised. Hank never thought it possible to be seasick underwater but then again he never thought that outsmarting his carers would involve hijacking their ridiculous modes of human transport _(seriously they had legs, why on earth did they feel the need to travel in such horrendously hard to drive vehicles?)_

For whatever reason he had agreed to stay on the Great Barrier Reef, mostly because Australia seemed to appeal more to him than Cleveland. A place existing on the other side of the world which promised peace and quiet was certainly a welcome change from the hustle and bustle of marine life institutes. Hank would have been lying if he said he didn't receive _some_ help from the doctors at the institute but even so he found it insulting that they assumed he couldn't look out for himself.

On this particular day he was sheltered inside a cavern he had made his domain, doing nothing but resting and occasionally chasing away unruly children. He was about to drift into sleep when a familiar voice disturbed him.

"Excuse me? Hank?"

His turquoise eyes shot open and he slowly emerged from his rocky abode to see Marlin the clownfish hovering in front of him.

"Oh. It's you."

"I'm really sorry to wake you, but have you seen Dory at all today?"

The septopus groaned. _Was that all?_ "No, I haven't. Now move, Buddy you're blocking the sunlight."

"You're not even in the sunlight!" protested Marlin as Hank began to wriggle back into the darkness. "Please you've got to tell me at least where she might have gone."

"I told you!" snapped Hank, "I haven't seen her since yesterday. Why do you wanna know so badly anyway? Are you both an item or something?"

Marlin blushed furiously. "No. Actually I wanted to speak with her about how she feels about her parents living on the reef."

Hank shrugged. "She probably doesn't want to be bothered about something completely overwhelming," he sighed, but with an air of concern in his tone. "Just like I don't want to be bothered by other fish. So _Scram!"_

Hank retreated. Marlin rolled his eyes grumbling to himself. "Thanks for nothing."

As he turned to swim away, a scarlet tentacle appeared out of the cave pointing in the direction of the Drop Off. "If it helps she's probably on the edge of the reef. I wouldn't count too much on it but I'll bet she's out there fooling around. Have fun trying to get her to pay attention to you."

"T-Thanks," said Marlin as the tentacle shot back into its hiding place. He swam through the tubed coral fronds and anemones patterning the reef until he reached its edge. He peered behind a large rounded peach-coloured coral and cautiously looked around. Sure enough, there was Dory swimming around in circles and humming to herself on the ledge where the reef met the open water. She didn't appear to look flustered or distressed but Marlin knew that sometimes her joyful mask could slip. Carefully he emerged from the coral and swam next to her.

_"_ _Ahem!"_

Dory wheeled around smiling. "Hey!"

"Hey."

"What's up?"

"Oh! Nothing, I just thought you might like some company is all."

Dory gave a smile and paused at the edge, staring straight out into the vast blue. Although the smile never left her face there was a certain look of longing in her magenta eyes. Marlin presumed she hoped to see a whale pass by or a manta ray or even a diver. Divers still came to explore the reef, meaning drills for safety were regular ever since Nemo's kidnapping. Marlin had warned Dory to stay inside her brain coral while he and Nemo stayed put in the anemone until the divers had passed over but she never managed to remember the instructions. She would swim right up to them introducing herself, nudging their masks and swimming through the tubes of their tanks. Marlin almost had a heart attack the first time this happened. Luckily the divers weren't nearly as keen to grab at fish as P Sherman had been. They would hold their gloved hands out instead to touch her fins and then go back to scouring the seabed. "Hey everybody! I made human friends! Mammal pals! I made _Mampals_!"

"I saw," Marlin had hissed.

"Dory you could have been hurt!" Nemo wailed, "those humans could have taken you away, and we wouldn't be able to find you again!"

"Please never do that again!" Marlin told her firmly.

Marlin joined her staring into the sea, the two of them saying nothing, doing nothing and occasionally partaking in short grins and glances. It was one of the best aspects of their friendship. Finally Dory spoke.

"Memory is weird isn't it?"

Marlin was hesitant since he could sense the drop in happiness in her voice but agreed "I suppose it is, yes."

"It's like, you think you remember something only to grow up believing you made it up until one day you realize it _did_ happen and you remember it again!"

"Very true. Memory is a strange thing," said Marlin. He paused looking for something else to say. "How are you liking it?"

"What-? Oh the view's great! I mean I always forget it's here, like, I'll be swimming along and I'll go "Ooh look at that!" and then remember that it's not the first time I've- "

"No Dory, not the view," chuckled Marlin, "I mean about your parents living on the reef with us."

"My parents live here?!" she gasped, "Oh my Gosh! I haven't seen them in years I've got to go say "hi!"

"You saw them yesterday Dory."

"I did?"

"Yes, right after we dropped Nemo off at school."

Dory shrank. "Oh...I'm Sorry…I just….I should've remembered, I mean I was there and you-"

"Dory don't worry about it," said Marlin gently, "It's okay. Nobody's perfect."

Dory sniffed. "Yeah."

There was silence until Marlin broke it.

"Do you want to know what I like most about this part of the reef?"

"What?"

"That," said Marlin gesturing to the surface. "When the sunlight comes through and it hits everything and the tide is low and there's nothing but peace and quiet. That's what I like most."

"Huh." Dory nodded. "Yeah it's pretty. Needs a whale or two though."

"Dory, I said I liked it when it was quiet."

"Pilot whales are pretty quiet."

"Yes, and stingrays don't have barbs."

Dory smirked. "You're no fun. You don't like anybody. You don't like sharks, whales, dolphins, crabs, birds. You're such a grump!"

"That's not true. I like you and Nemo. I just don't like being digested."

Dory went back to staring into space. "Sometimes, I think that maybe the reason I'm so forgetful is because I wasn't meant to be here."

Marlin's eyes opened wide and he brought her face close to meet his. "Dory? Why would you say that?"

"Because back at the Institute they teach everyone that fish should be protected. But sometimes there are fish who don't belong in captivity or the ocean. And those fish don't survive. Even Mr Ray says it "Survival of the Fittest."

Marlin continued to blink dumbfounded at her. "Dory-"

"And since I suffer from Short Term Memory Loss, it means nature didn't want me to exist. I should have been eaten or stranded long ago."

"Dory don't talk like that!" said Marlin taking her fin, "Nature is insane. You and I both know that. We've faced it. But it also has a way of fixing things. You see that coral over there? How it's all white?"

"Yeah?"

"Well it's bleached. Damaged and colourless. It looks like it's beyond repair. But it's okay. It is able to revive itself. It may take time to heal and in some cases it might never heal at all. But they try. They're resilient. Just like you. And I've never met anyone who is as resilient as you. It's true that nature picks on weak fish. But you are not a weak fish Dory. Just because you forget doesn't change your ability to survive and conquer."

Dory blinked shaking off the tears she knew would come. "That's the nicest thing I've ever heard."

Marlin nudged her side. "See?" he said, "You do belong here with us. I don't know how I would have found my son if it wasn't for YOOOFFF-"

He was cut short as Dory pulled him into a bone crushing hug. "Thank you Thank you Thank you I feel so much better!"

"Ugh! That's great Dory," he wheezed, "But can you let me go please? You're on my gills!"

"Sorry!" said Dory releasing him from her grip immediately. "You're right! I am needed here! I do have friends don't I? Friends who would miss me if I left?"

"More than you know Dory," Marlin replied. "Nemo looks up to you like an Aunt. Then you have your parents and Hank and Bailey and Destiny and Bruce and Mr Ray and-"

"Sigourney Weaver?"

Marlin pouted. "Well I was going to say me. Besides you don't even know this Sigourney Weaver."

"Yes I do, we're best friends!"

"Really?"

"Yeah, she was the first real friendly voice I heard when I was looking for my family!"

"Dory, you don't even know what she looks like."

"Well, she sounds nice and polite. She answered my Hello and told me all I need to know about the Institute."

"Dory just because you grew up in an aquarium doesn't mean all humans are our friends. Not all of them want to coddle us. Some of them want to eat us!"

"Well not all of 'em," Dory replied sulkily. "If not all humans are friends then that means not _all_ of them want to eat us either."

"I guess that's true," Marlin sighed.

The two of them stared into the glorious vastness of the Pacific Ocean for a long time, going back into their usual routine of no conversation except when they felt like it. There were no boats, so the ripples were calm. There were no shadows, so predators weren't near. There were no worries, so everyone was safe. They had both never felt so content.

"You know there's one thing I'll never forget," said Dory at last.

"What's that?" asked Marlin.

"This view."

Marlin followed her gaze, seeming to see far beyond any ocean.

"Yeah."


	11. Introductions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New Chapter is up!  
> Sandrastar: here you go! :)

"Come and catch meee!” called Dory in a sing song voice as she darted in and out of the tubed coral and the fronds of kelp on the outskirts of the reef. Ever since she had brought back some old acquaintances from the Jewel of Morro Bay, she had been having the time of her life trying to catch up _herself_. The arrival of a whale shark, a beluga and a septopus to the reef had certainly stirred the residents. The fish were not too thrilled about having potential aquatic predators close to their homes. However since Destiny was near sighted and lacked teeth, Bailey was playful and Hank didn't bother anyone nor want to be bothered, it was soon an adjustment they would get used to. Dory delighted in this. She called back to her friend who had been swimming after her in a game of chase since mid morning. “Destiny! Destiny where are you--?”

Suddenly from behind the rocks loomed the enormous shape of the whale shark, wearing her usual toothless grin, her white spots standing out from her cerulean hide in the blue water. “Found Yoooouuu!!” she called out in whale. Dory shrieked and the two continued to play. Dory darted through a rock crevice but as Destiny turned a corner to follow her, her vision suddenly got the better of her and with a cry of “Wait, GAH!” she crashed straight into them. Dory immediately hearing the rocks falling darted straight back and paused in front of her friend’s face. “Whoa! Are you okay?!”

“It's fine…” mumbled a dazed Destiny putting a fin to her head. “It doesn't feel too swollen. I guess when Bailey said there were no walls in the ocean, I probably should have asked him about rocks!”

“It's fine, you're still new here that's all,” said Dory reaching out a tiny yellow fin to pat the space between her friend’s eyes, “You get used to it after a while.”

“I don't know how you did it Dory, out there all on your own. You must have been pretty scared.”

“I don't really know how I did it either,” said Dory, “I can't really remember anything about it other than, well, living here and swimming, and eating--course I can't exactly remember what I ate but there ya go.”

“Hey, just a quick question, now that I'm out in the open ocean and everything what am I expected to eat? They fed me sardines at the Institute but I could never bare to touch them.

“Hm,” hummed Dory putting a fin to her lip. “I think you had something about a grill next to your exhibit. Or was it a zoo?”

Destiny looked horrified. “You can't seriously expect me to eat an entire zoo of fish! I'll starve before I harm my friends!”

“No No, it's…” Dory thought for a moment. What was it? “Okay I remember reading a sign...I was with...Hank. Hank...plank...plank! Plankton! Zooplankton that's what you eat!”

Destiny looked puzzled. “What is zooplankton?”      

“Sort of like you open your mouth,” said Dory demonstrating and holding her breath, “suck in...and swallow. You'll feel nourished in no time!”

Destiny attempted opening her mouth in the most impressive way and gulping in water, her gills spread apart, but to no avail. “It's no use. I don't taste anything.”

“Any what?”

“Zooplankton.”

“Oh right. It's okay! We'll work on it!”

Destiny stared out into the open where the water became darker and the silence became unsettling. “Do you think I'll have to migrate?”

“Maybe. But don't go yet! We have so much fun here!”

“I know, but I can't stay near the reef forever. I need space to get the hang of my swimming. The last thing I want is to crash into somebody’s house.”

“Crash into who's house?” came the drawl of Bailey the beluga rounding the corner.

“Did you follow us here?” Destiny snapped at him.

“No.”

“Bailey…”

“Agh, Okay Okay I used my echolocation! I just saw you leave this morning and wanted to see what you were up to, I'm Sorry!”   ”

“Ugh! You always do this! Why can't you find something else to do while we swim and talk?”

“Because there's nothing to do around here,” moaned Bailey “There's no other whales in sight, I don't have anyone my own size to play with. I'm bored out of my mind over here!”

Destiny sighed but softened. “Why not play with that cute clownfish kid, uh...Nemo?”

“He's at schoooool,” whined Bailey. “Besides, there's only so many games I can play. Ever taken sixteen children for a back-ride all at once? There's no one else around here to hang out with.”

“You can hang out with us!” piped up Dory before Destiny could interject.

“Oh Okay!”

Destiny placed a fin to her temple.  

“Hey quick question: I was hoping there were some bigger mammals out here? You wouldn't happen to know if there are any sea lions around?”

“Uh...haven't seen any,” replied Dory, “but Mr Ray says there dolphins that pass by here during the migration season. It's off the reef. Shouldn't be too dangerous…” she paused. “Or did he say to stay away from it?”

“Dolphins sound fun!” perked up Bailey, “I just hope they don't make fun of me,” he added deflating a little and pointing to his head.

“Bailey your head is fine,” groaned Destiny, “The doctors wouldn't have kept you for rehabilitation and release if they thought you weren't going to survive in the ocean.”

“Easy for you to say,” said Bailey, “there's no other whales out here but probably plenty of sharks.”

Destiny chuckled, “Bailey please, you have me, and we’ve been through this before: huge scary sharks don't come near here.”

Bailey stared at her blankly. “Um. Destiny. Hate to break it to you but--you're a shark.”

“You're kidding right?!” laughed Destiny. “Me? A shark! Look at me, do I look like a shark?”

Bailey and Dory stared at her, concern in their eyes. They exchanged glances. Did she really not know? “Man, no wonder they kept you locked in there,” said Bailey, “You're crazy!”

“I am not!” spat Destiny, “I'm a whale, Stupid! Note the size!”

“Uh-huh,” deadpanned Bailey, “and also note the dorsal fin.”

“Wha-” the whale shark turned about attempting to look at it on her own and causing her balance to falter. “So?! Lots of whales have dorsal fins!”

“None that look like that,” smiled Bailey, “You're definitely a fish.”

Destiny was furious. How dare he start on her about her species. She knew just fine what she was! She was a whale and was determined to prove so. As I'd she shared any resemblance to one of those barbaric fish eating monsters.

“Well, how do you explain my whale speak?” she challenged him.

“Destiny, Destiny,” chortled Bailey, “Do you remember when they first dropped me into the tank next to you when you were all alone.”

“Ooh, I love stories!” exclaimed Dory excitedly.  

“Don't you guilt trip me!”

“Do you not remember you asked me why I was whistling at the glass? And how kids love a show and the sound of a whale? I taught you how to speak whale. It didn't just happen.”

Destiny let her eyes drop. “Well...okay, fine. But I'm still a whale, plain and simple. There's not a trace of shark on me.”

“Keep telling yourself that.”

“Hey, I have an idea!” said Dory brightly. “I know some fellas who will know just how to help you out--if it turns out you are a shark that is.”

“What do you mean Dory?” asked Destiny somewhat cautiously.

Dory beamed at her. “I have shark friends!” Seeing the look on her companion's face she added “What? I didn't tell you? Must have forgot...Anyway, they're super fun and really nice! You'll like them! And they'll like you to!”

“For dinner you mean.”

“Bailey…!”

“I'm kidding!”

Dory turned back to her friend who was in the process of swimming backwards from her. “What do you say, wanna come visit them with me?”

Destiny looked wide eyed. “Me? With sharks? Um...I don't know...how come you’re friends with them? Didn't they try to eat you?”

“Nope!” said Dory, instinctively washing away any memory of the largest, Bruce chasing her and Marlin ferociously through the walls of his home, “they're some of the nicest guys I know.”

Destiny looked to Bailey for help. When he offered none the whale shark took a deep intake of water and sighed. “Okay…”

“Whoo!” exclaimed Dory throwing her find up, “Come on let's go!”

“Good luck girls!” called Bailey.

“You mean you're not coming?” said Destiny incredulously.

Bailey looked sheepish. “Um, well I would--buuuuut I think I'm gonna go check out those dolphin pods. They sound safer.”

“Coward,” muttered Destiny.

“Heard that!”

* * *

 

“Dad?”

Nemo waited outside the anemone, his little fin flitting about and his eyes darting around him. He glanced at Dory’s brain coral cave. It had been empty all morning and Nemo was starting to worry about his friend. What if she had been sleep swimming again and had wandered out to the Drop Off?

“Dad!” the little clownfish called out again. Fear and impatience overtaking him he wriggled into the anemone where his father lay sleeping in its centre. He gently nudged his father from his slumber pulling at his pectoral fins. “Daddy! Wake up!” Marlin turned over and instinctively pulled Nemo under his fin. When Nemo was a hatchling, he lived in constant fear of the ocean current sweeping through the anemone’s tendrils and taking his son out into the unknown. Nemo struggled out of the embrace. “No--Dad!” Marlin yawned and his eyes fluttered open, blinking back fatigue. “Nemo? Son, what's wrong?”

“Dory’s missing! She's not in her cave and I haven't seen her all day!”

Instantly Marlin’s eyes widened. “What?!”

Both fish burst from the bulbous tendrils and Marlin swam over to Dory’s coral home--empty. “Oh no no no no….what do I tell Jenny and Charlie?”

“Dad we have to look for her!” urged Nemo, “Dory!” he called throughout the reef. His father joined him chorusing “Dory! Dory!”

* * *

 

“I don't know about this Dory, I haven't really had much experience talking to sharks…”

“Oh relax, the FEA guys’ll be thrilled to another fish join their group!”

Destiny and Dory swam through the dark water, on the outskirts of the Great Barrier Reef. Below them were more clusters of coral and an array of fish moving in shoals along the seabed. Dory had been ever so enthusiastic telling her friend all about the objective of her larger acquaintances and their goal to give up eating fish. Destiny had tried to listen but was too distracted by the mind-numbing fear that threatened to overtake her.

“But they're just so... _scary_ ,” the whale shark whispered as though a shiver of them would ambush them at the mere mention of their species. “And all those teeth…”

“Not these guys,” reassured Dory, “they're so tame they don't even eat fish--did I tell you that already?”

“Twenty times.”

They swam on in silence through murky indigo water, each new stroke of their tails adding more dread in Destiny’s psyche for what she was about to face. Finally, Dory came to halt near what appeared to be a sunken wreck. It was covered with rust from the ages and all around it was a forest of chains holding up empty stumps. Whatever the chains had once carried, Destiny was nervous to find out.

“You wait here, I'll go get em!” said Dory.

“Okay…” nodded Destiny, although she was anything but. “Hey guys! Come meet my friend her name is Destiny!” Dory sped towards the wreck through the forest of chains until the darkness swallowed her up. Destiny was left on her own trying to work out her surroundings. All she could see was the fuzzy outline of the wreck and the blurs of sunken human activity on the seabed. Destiny noted an anchor, a ship’s steering wheel covered in algae, a few rusty boards, and tiny flecks of gold half buried in the sand. Destiny glanced ahead of her, waiting at any moment for a monstrous shape to appear from the blackness. How long had it been? Where was Dory? What if her “friends” had _eaten_ her? A thousand terrible thoughts crossed through her mind until she heard it--the faint sound of laughter from a distance. She watched as a blue blob and three dark silhouettes emerged from the shadows.

“Where’d ya find this sheila then?” came the voice of one.

“The Jewel of Morro Bay, California!”

“Sounds fancy!”

“Too right!”

Destiny froze as she felt the presence of the beasts, like a shadow looming over her. She closed her eyes and tried to will herself not to be frightened.

“Here she is--hey Destiny, come say hi!”

Slowly the whale shark opened her eyes...and there they were. Three enormous menacing, ferocious looking fish, each with a set of pearly whites and malicious grins spread across their wide jaws. In the middle a great white, to the left a hammerhead and to the right a mako. Three of some of the most feared sharks in the ocean. It was her worst nightmare.

“Hello,” smiled the great white, his grin looking the largest and his teeth the sharpest. It took her a moment to try and grasp his gaze with her near sighted vision but she realised he was looking...down. In fact they were all looking down. Destiny was puzzled but following their eyes to a rock pile she understood they were looking for a fish Dory’s size. It seemed as though Dory had forgotten to state her species.

“Uh Guys? She's up here!”

Immediately the blobs Destiny knew as the trio’s eyes shot upwards where they seemed to stop grinning. All three were completely dumbfounded at the gargantuan size of Dory’s new playmate. Bruce had always thought himself large enough but this shark, could send any potential predator fleeing.

The four of them just stared at each other in what became a long and uncomfortable silence. Dory kept looking from her fish-free friends to her pipe pa hoping one of them would break it. Finally Chum the mako coughed sending particles flying out from between his teeth. Destiny squinted and saw they were small fragments of mackerel bone.

With an ear-splitting shriek the whale shark took off, the motions of her tail creating a huge current which threw the stunned sharks backwards.

“Oh dear…” cringed Dory hurriedly propelling herself after her friend. “DESTINY WAAAIT!!!” she called in whale, “COooMe BAAaaaaaacckkk!!!!!!!!!!”

Bruce, Anchor and Chum recovered themselves and stared after her, exchanging glances. “I saw’r ‘er first!” said Bruce quickly swimming after them.

“What?!” said Chum following, “No you didn't, Mate!”

“You drongos she was looking at me!” said Anchor furiously racing after his companions.

* * *

“Where do you think she could have gone Dad?”

“I--I don't know son.”

“Shouldn't we tell Jenny and Charlie and ask them for help?”

Marlin paused. The last thing he wanted to do was to worry Dory’s parents. They were off the edge of the reef, beside large underwater trenches and isolated coral homes scanning the blue in search of her. “I think we should--”

A loud high pitched wailing was heard in the distance.

“Did you hear that?” said Nemo.

“ _Dory_!” Marlin called into the open sea.

An enormous shape suddenly hurtled towards them, nearly missing Nemo’s fin. Marlin grabbed him and pushed him out of the creature’s path just in time. The spotted tail of the fish nearly knocked them into one of the nearby reef beds as it continued swimming into a frenzy.

“It's Destiny!” shouted Nemo.

“That means Dory’s not far behind!” added Marlin happily. “Follow me Nem-ARGH!”

A flash of blue slammed full force into them. Marlin trying to cover himself and his son to avoid collateral damage.

“Dory where have you b-?”

“Oh Merlin, I mean _Mar_ lin! Destiny and I were just swimming along and I tried to introduce her to Bruno-- _Bruce_! And then--” she babbled.  

“Dory, we’ve been very worried about you! Why didn't you tell your parents where--

“Dory!”

The blue tang and the two clownfish turned to see the anxious and out of breath shapes of Jenny and Charlie.

“Dory honey!” cried Jenny cupping her daughter’s face with her fins, “We've been looking for you all day, what happened?”  

“We thought you were in trouble Kelpcake,” said Charlie seriously, “What have you been doing all this time?”

“Dory, is there something you would like to explain to your parents?” asked Marlin flatly.

Dory’s eyes dropped to the sea floor, avoiding looking at her family’s panic stricken faces. She hummed slightly and tried to think how to word that she had thought it a good idea to mix a big shark with an even bigger shark.

“I--I…” She turned to look up at them but saw they were even more frightened than before, petrified even. Jenny’s eyes were wide and her mouth was agape. Charlie looked peaky, his scales drained of colour. Marlin tried to motion for Nemo to get behind him, but the little clownfish was smiling.

Dory noticed a shadow had been cast over them and turned round with delight in her eyes to see her FEA members staring down at her, wearily but happily.

“Oh there you guys are. Did we have a meeting today?”

“Dory-” began Charlie. “Are you t-talking t-t-to a - _shark_?”

“Three sharks,” whimpered Jenny.

“Yeah!” beamed Dory, “They're my friends! Mom, Dad, meet Bruce...An-Anchor and Rum?”

“Chum.” The mako corrected.

“Chum.”

“Oh my goodness,” Jenny murmured.

“So these are yer Oldies lil Sheila? Pleasure to meet you morsels,” he said flashing his classic grin.

“So...You're not going to eat us?” stammered Charlie.

“Nah mate, don't fret yahself!” reassured Anchor, “We gave it up some time ago!”

“Fish are Friends!” stated Chum.

“ _Not Food!”_ the trio said in unison.

“Oh look at that Charlie,” giggled Jenny nervously, “fish-free sharks who'dve thought…”

“What's the matter with Destiny?” piped up Nemo, “We just saw her race past us just now, she looked pretty scared.”

“Ah...something tells me she hasn't met another one of ours before,” said Anchor.

“Well, she did think she was a whale until today,” said Dory.

Bruce chuckled. “Humans must’ve been feedin’ her tainted bait. She ‘av gone that far.”

A sudden crash alerted everyone to the underwater ledges where small stones were cascading down creating a flurry of bubbles. A muffled grunt of pain was heard in the distance.

“Destiny!” gasped Dory taking off.

“Is she...alrigh’?” asked Bruce concern in his tone.

“She’s near sighted,” explained Nemo, “She told me she was in a tank because she was learning how to swim on her own--hey Dad can I come with Dory to her next meeting?”

“Hmm...I'll think about it,” said Marlin in a voice which Nemo knew meant “ _absolutely not.”_ Dory returned with Destiny, swimming between her eyes to guide her. “This way, follow me, come on, you got this!” When Destiny reached the group she spotted two blue blobs she recognised as Dory’s parents, two orange blobs she knew as Nemo as his father and three dark muted grey blobs which upon seeing she faltered beginning to swim back. “No, Destiny it's okay, they're not gonna hurt you.”

“Are you sure?”

“Our bark is worse than our bite Miss,” Bruce reassured.

“Sorry about the bones though!” offered Chum.

Cautiously Destiny swam forward, “So...does this mean you're not going to eat me?”

“Sharks don't usually try and take on any prey larger than th’mselves,” said Anchor.

“You're alright with us!” grinned Chum.

“Oh…” Destiny’s confidence grew slightly, “I uh...guess I’m too big huh?”

“Big and _stunning_ if I might add,” winked Bruce while his friends glared at him. Destiny giggled. “Heh...thanks.”

“Yo Destiny!” came the voice of Bailey rounding a corner of the ledge. “I just finished playing with those bottlenose dolphins, it was so much fun! How did it go with the--” he paused as his echolocation picked up the large predators before his eyes did.”

“Destiny! Sharks! Swim!” he spluttered out, “Don't let them catch you I've seen the movies they showed at the Marine Institute’s theatre night!”

“What's a mo-vee?” hissed Chum.

“I'll get him,” sighed Destiny, “BAILEEEY!!!! _THeeeeeerrrreeee VEGETaaaaaareeeeeAAAAANNNS!”_

“Is it too late to go back to bed?” groaned Marlin.          

                  

  

                  


	12. New Fish

**Apologies for the lack of updates. Life does not go easy on people (especially when exams are concerned.) I hope this little tidbit suffices. This is for ChildatHeart and Cel Rainstorm by the way, I'm so glad you enjoy these!**

"Throw it here!"

"No to me!"

"You're going too fast!"

Sheltered in the safety of the green fronds and the beds of velvet coral, the three children played in a secluded nursery, once used for storing the eggs of guppies. Tad, the Butterflyfish swept swiftly past his comrades as they struggled desperately to knock the sponge from his tail's grip. Pearl, being the graceful cephalopod she was had tried to glide past and nudge it out but to no avail. Sheldon, a timid foal of the sea tried to use his curved tail to his advantage but a sudden burst of intolerance for the salt in the water sent a great sneeze blowing him backwards.

Nemo had also tried to keep up with his friend but his little fin was proving it difficult. His father had still told him that he shouldn't strain it too much, even though he knew his son could manage fine with or without a damaged fin. Tad hadn't exactly acknowledged the unfair advantage his species had when competing in anything athletic.

"Haha! Watch this!" shouted Tad, lifting the sponge into the water with his nose and soaring upwards, knocking it with his tail against a tall tube of coral which fell on impact.

"Try and beat that losers!" he called back to the others.

"That's cheating," Pearl huffed, folding two of her short tentacles. "You're only supposed to throw it back and forth."

Tad gave a chuckle, "So? I'm having fun, lay off."

"Well, you're not exactly playing fair," said Sheldon carefully, "You're kind of abusing the rules of the game."

"What, the rules of catching stuff? Come on Sheldon lighten up and try and take it from me." He scooped the sponge up from the grey sand with his teeth and tossed it again. Sheldon charged forwards but before he could even get within a tail's grab, Tad sped off again bouncing the sponge with his tail and breaking into loud obnoxious chortling.

"Now that's being mean!" Pearl snapped.

"No it isn't, my Dad says that it's okay to be competitive. In fact it's kind of a big deal. If I'm fast it means I'll be able to protect myself if I ever get lost in the open sea."

Pearl looked at Nemo who hovered towards them fighting the strain of his little fin. "Well, Nemo's not very fast and he still survived in the open sea."

"Um...it was a tank in a dentist's office," replied Nemo sheepishly.

"Well, it was still off the reef," added Sheldon.

"And more adventure than Tad's probably ever seen in his life," commented Pearl.

"A glass box? Big deal," scoffed Tad indignantly, "at least you still got food. Out in the open sea there is no food brought to you, you have to get it all yourself-otherwise you are the food."

Nemo, Pearl and Sheldon exchanged looks and began to swim away.

"Hey where are you guys going?!" Tad called after them, "I'm just telling the truth!"

"We're not playing if you're going to act like a bully," Pearl said coldly.

Tad watched in disbelief as he was left in the nursery watching his friends swim over the reef. "Fine," he muttered, "I can play by myself anyways."

* * *

"-I'm tired."

"-My tail hurts! How much longer?"

"-Stop poking me!"

"-I can't help it if I'm covered in spines!"

The chorus of voices could be heard in the vast expanse of the deep blue and the desert of watery silence made their protests all the more clearer. A small shoal of fish swam in an interrupted line, their swimming patterns affected from apparent hours of fatigue. In one group was a porcupine fish, bloated and wheezing, looking as though he were about to inflate any second and impale the nuisance of a royal gamma swimming at his side. Underneath him was a pink sea star held up on the feelers of a red and white cleaner shrimp and a stressed looking yellow tang pulling along a disorientated blue and white humbug. The fish at the front, a regal yet scarred looking Moorish Idol leading the group along seemed to be the only one not weighted down by sleep or tears. The determined expression in his ruby eyes never wavered even as his comrades complained bitterly.

"Gill, how long until we actually reach the reef?" The gamma, Gurgle, asked.

"Just a couple more miles," was the only response.

"But we've been swimming for half a day now, can't we stop and rest again?"

"No. We've done enough resting. We're already behind on sunlight."

"What does that even mean?" The gamma groaned.

"It means that if we keep stopping to sleep, we lose hours spent getting there," sighed the idol turning around at last, "All I know is that the reef-my reef- has to be around here somewhere. But the longer we keep lolly-gagging the longer the trip's gunna be. Any more queries?" The pink starfish raised one arm. "Yes, Peach?"

"Uh, once we get there how are we going to find a home?"

There was silence from the idol. There were caves on the reef, although they did contain eels. And the coral housed a great number of life as well as the sand beds. There would be no shortage of shelter that was for sure. "We'll cross that trench when it comes."

The rest of the gang let out another long sigh.

"I wish Flo was here to see this," said Deb, the humbug. Her sister it seemed had gotten lost back at the Marine Life Institute and hadn't followed them the way back.

"We'll find her honey," comforted Peach.

"I hope this place at least has bubbles," said Bubbles the tang.

"And cleaning stations," added Gurgle.

"I am also curious to zhat." added Jaques the cleaner shrimp.

"Trust me everyone, the reef has all of those things and more," said Gill, "you'll love it, just you wait!"

* * *

Marlin awoke from his afternoon slumber to the mysterious and panic inducing sight of Dory's empty cave. Hurriedly looking around him and trying not to worry himself silly he turned about him to look for her and saw she had only slept swam again, her head resting against a branch of blue coral and a trace of kelp stuck in her tail. He relaxed immedietly and even laughed lightly to himself as he went to wake her. "Dory," he whispered gently nudging her "Doooorryy…"

The blue tang's eyes opened as did her mouth in a scream. "I WAS FRAMED- Oh hey Marlin."

"Hi," replied the clownfish flatly.

"Is it time to get up already?"

"Well it is if you want to meet Hank this afternoon."

"Oh shoot, was that today? I must have-gah. Well, best be seeing you partner!"

"Why are you meeting him again?"

"Oh, poor guy's having a hard time adjusting to the reef. He says he needs some help making his new cave feel like home."

"Wait, you mean he _wants_ to be kept in an enclosed space?"

Dory shrugged. "Yeah, says he feels better that way. I never understood why some of those Morro Bay fish liked being stuck behind glass with nowhere to swim without bumping into the walls but Hey, to each fish his own I guess."

"Yeah, well try and be back by sunset this time if possible," Marlin told her, "No staying out late to chat to the clams."

"What, those guys?" laughed Dory, "they're a hoot! Always give me pearls of wisdom! See ya!"

"Dory wait-mm." Marlin sighed, as she dipped through the corals and out of sight. He decided to go and pick up Nemo from the nursery. Looking back he mumbled, "I'm using that joke."

* * *

"Alright gang! Here we are; the Great Barrier Reef!"

The tank fish stared in absolute awe and disbelief looking out on the paradise before them. It was like nothing they had ever seen. Although Gill had described it all to them, it was nothing compared to seeing it before their eyes. There were enormous magenta corals in every shape and size, from amber tubes to scarlet sea pens and enormous emerald fronds. Below them, were violet coral beds which fastened like broaches to the flat sandy bottom. There was construction after construction built upon each other in layers which continued on for miles deep and ended at the Drop Offs which acted as a welcome station to new stranded fish, and as a dead end for would be predators. And the life which swam! Tangs of every colour, including some of their own species. Idols and gammas, angelfish and cardinals, tetras and gobies, humbugs and damselfish and trigger fish, butterflies, parrots, trouts and pups. Rays with gilded wings glided overhead and the tiniest of dogfish sharks lay buried in the sand. Lush seagrass, kelp and algae grew on the rocks as well as the tiny particles which drifted through the air, meaning there was enough food to last for weeks, possibly months on end.

It was almost like looking at heaven.

"Whaddaya think? Did I leave anything out?"

"Gill it's magnificent!" exclaimed Gurgle.

" _Magnifique_!" agreed Jaques.

"I can't believe I never believed you Gill," said Bloat, his giant mouth still agape.

"It's certainly going to be better than being trapped in a baggie, that's for sure," said Peach.

"Well, follow me," ordered Gill, "We'll ask somebody if there are any free spaces available, it's mostly likely I mean-look at this place!"

Gill could not recall the last time he felt this happy. It had been one incredible thing to roll himself out a window in a plastic bag across a busy street and into the clear blue of Sydney Harbour and trekking all throughout the Pacific to the murkiness of Morro Bay but it was another thing completely to be in front of his childhood home. He wondered if his family were still there waiting for him. He knew it was very unlikely. Gill hadn't so much grown up on the reef as he had around it and his family would probably have moved on since Dr Sherman had found him on his own one day and decided he would make for a good pet. Gill didn't exactly despise humans but he would have been lying to say he didn't resent the dentist's decision to take him home with him.

He studied the faces of the fish who passed them by. They seemed to look worried, frightened almost. He reckoned it was nothing but saw the others were clearly bothered by it.

"Bloat, you don't think these ocean fish know we were once in a tank, do you?"

"What makes you say that?"

"It's just the way they're...looking at us," he said lowering his voice, "Like they can see through our scales and into our heads."

"You're paranoid mon ami," said Jacques.

"Flo!" shrieked Deb suddenly, darting away from the others and darting towards a large oyster. She had spotted her reflection in the glossy sphere in its centre. "Flo, I'm so happy to see you! You look great-but oh no, your fin has rotted what happened?"

"Deb, get away from there!" Gill urged sharply.

Deb however did not heed his warning and continued to talk non stop to the pearl as though it were an old friend-for in her eyes, it was. Gill was the first to notice the oyster getting ready to clamp down and take whatever was in its immediate vicinity with it. As fast as the current carries flotsam Gill swam forward and knocked Deb out of the way just as the shrivelled lips of the oyster closed. The disorientated humbug blinked and began wailing; "Flo! Flo is still in there, we have to get her out!" Gill knew it was a taboo to bring up the discussion of Flo not being real. Deb was separated from her sister when she was purchased from her other tank in the pet store. It was useless trying to explain to her that Flo was nothing but a figment of her imagination. Now the poor girl had become so adjusted to tank life she had no idea of the dangers of the ocean.

"She's fine," Gill uttered calmly. "It was a trick of the light-pearls do that sometimes, but hey, listen we'll find her soon okay?" He thought it best to wait until Deb had found a safer place to continue the illusion.

The humbug sniffed. "Oh...alright. You're right. She couldn't have wandered too far…"

"In the meantime you need to be more careful. Remember what I taught you about the ocean?"

"It's not safe?" replied Deb.

"Precisely," he turned to the rest of the gang, "and that goes for all of you. I know it's easy to forget sometimes but the ocean is filled with unknown dangers: predators, pathogens, pollution, you name it. But these plants and rocks are real...not plastic mimicry, real. And they too can carry dangers if you're not aware. You drop your guard for one second and the last thing you'll see is the throat of a bigger fish, is that understood?"

The tank members all nodded vigorously. Bubbles moved away from a gentle moving frond.

"Good, now follow me, and stay close."

"I'm starting to wish we were back in the bags," Gurgle whispered to Bloat.

Gill surveyed the area, scanning for possible adversaries. They had entered a peaceful cul de sac of corals with little to no fish swimming about. He looked around, his vision almost blinded by the vivid colours before him. It was such a strange thing to think he would ever have made it back here, the sight of his beautiful, open ocean was nothing short of overwhelming. He spotted movement suddenly around one of the flat platelets of coral. Three fish who looked to be children were circling in an apparent game; a tiny pink octopus, a small seahorse and a clownfish...a clownfish who looked very familiar.

Could it be? thought Gill. No. It couldn't...it was impossible, there were so many clownfish on the reef in thousands of colonies. It was a coincidence if anything...and yet?

"What's the matter Gill?" came the voice of Peach spread across the back of Bloat. Gill could not turn around nor answer her. He stood dead in his tracks concentrating.

"Gill?"

"I knew it," hissed Gurgle, "He's finally snapped! Nuts, cuckoo, crazy!"

"Hey shaddup, I don't see you coming out with any ideas," retorted Bloat.

"Me?! What do you want me to do, lead us onto a hook?! It looks like we're headed that way already!"

"Be quiet, both of you!" whispered Peach. "Gill, is everything alright?"

Gill waited with baited breath passing through his gills. The tiny clownfish boy turned...and there he saw it: the bad fin! There was only one clownfish he knew with a fin like that!

"Nemo!"

The clownfish boy turned looking about the reef. "Did you hear that?" he asked his friends. "Heard what?" asked Pearl.

"I don't know-it sounded like…" Nemo cut off as he saw the figure of a fish with a tall dorsal fin heading towards him. Pearl and Sheldon noticed this too and began to panic.

"Nemo, they're coming for you!"

"Quick let's get out of here!"

Nemo squinted as the figure moved closer. He could see a long snout, the monochromatic markings, the familiar ragged fin…

"Nemo!"

"Gill?" he whispered. Behind the figure came six others, the round shape of a puffer, a sleek looking shrimp, a floppy starfish…

Nemo's heart filled with an immediate rush of joy as he sped over as fast as his little fin would allow him. "GILL! GILL!"

"Come here!" laughed the moorish idol as the two collided into each other.

"Oh Gill, it's really you! I've missed you so so much!"

"Missed ya too, Sharkbait," said Gill patting Nemo's head with his good fin.

"Sharkbait!" came the voices of Gurgle, Bloat and Bubbles. Nemo swam into their embrace as though he were greeting long lost uncles.

"Where have you guys been? How did you escape?"

"It's a long story…" chuckled Gurgle, "we had to cross a stomach turning current all the way here."

"Those turtles were fun though!" added Bubbles.

"Yeah except for those annoying kids," groaned Bloat, "Oh why are so spiny? How do you blow up? Can you show us?" Sure thing, I'll show you right now ya little-"

"Nemo!" came the voice of Peach being carried by Jaques. Deb followed behind looking lost but her azure eyes quickly lit up when she saw the little clownfish.

"Peach!" shrieked Nemo swimming under one of her arms. "I missed you!"

"Oh, honey me too! There wasn't a day that went by in those little baggies when I wasn't thinking of you."

"Wait, baggies? You mean you-"

"Out the window, off the tarpaulin, across the street and into the harbour as planned by yours truly," smiled Gill.

Nemo thought he would burst from happiness. They had done it, they had actually done it. "And how about a hug for Aunty Deb?" said the humbug.

Nemo hugged everyone until he was gasping for breath like a fish caught on land. He could not believe it! They had actually done it!

"You guys! This is Pearl and Sheldon. Pearl, Sheldon, these are the fish that helped me while I was trapped in that tank."

"No way!" said Pearl.

"Cool!" gasped Sheldon.

The Tank Gang weren't normally used to having youngsters praise them so much. It was usually an unwelcome and grimy human finger smudging the tank or the general nod of acknowledgment from a patient towards them. It was a welcome occasion when children would peer in and comment on how they were all pretty colours or the dentist would speak fondly while feeding them. So the amazement and admiration from two little fish really meant something.

"Did you hear the stories kiddos?" asked Bloat.

"We didn't just hear about it, we saw it!" said Sheldon excitedly.

"Yeah, and then Nemo's Dad swam all the way out to the ocean to find him!" added Pearl. "Oh! Oh! I just remembered something!" said Nemo ecstatically pulling Gill by his good fin, "You have to meet my Dad, he'll really want to meet you!"

"Uh...okay…" sighed Gill fighting back protest as the little clownfish dragged him along. "Sharkbait, the gang and I need a place to rest. We've been swimming for days and it would be great to catch a break somewhere."

"My Dad can help with that!" said Nemo brightly, "He helped Dory settle into her new home!"

"Who's Dory?"

"Only the best friend in the entire ocean! She helped my Dad to rescue me and-and then they swam into sharks and jellyfish and-"

Gill tried to listen but his mind was elsewhere. He had heard tales of the boy's father: he was said to be a brave and noble fish and that the loss of his son had granted him immense strength and a strong will to survive. After all, who could blow up three sharks without the use of some sort of superpower? He truly wanted to meet this fish. At the same time however, he was worried. Worried because hearing the stories on his travels with the rest of the gang across the warm currents of the Coral Sea had reminded him of just how much devotion Nemo's father had for him, following a tiny boat fuelled by nothing but hope. Gill had been wracked with guilt since Nemo managed to escape down the drain of the dentist's sink. He was reassured by the fact that all drains lead to the ocean but panicked himself about whether or not Nemo had actually found his father. Gill had taken the boy under his fin, tried to make him feel welcome...and then made him risk his life by encouraging him to block the filter with a tiny pebble. His heart sank like a stone just thinking about it. How the blades could have-Gill brushed it aside and tried to pay attention to where they were going.

They ended up in a quiet reef cul-de-sac of rosy fronds and violent sponges and moss tinged the brightest emerald green. In a small circle, hidden from the rest of the reef stood a proud anemone with pearly tentacles and peach folds. Bright and quick flashes of orange darted through it-an older clownfish was swimming in amongst them, appearing to be tidying it. "Dad! Dad!" called Nemo as he raced away from the idol and into the fins of his father. As Gill expected he was met with an immediate loving but concerned embrace and tone. "Nemo? Are you hurt? I thought you were playing with your friends?" He straightened up, "Did that Tad say something again?"

"No, No, I want you to meet somebody."

"Oh?"

"Dad," said Nemo proudly gesturing towards the fish hovering just a few yards away from them, "This is Gill. He helped me when I was stuck in that dentist's tank."

Marlin stared awkwardly back at the stranger: a moorish idol with a ragged fin and zigzagging scars on one side.

"Um...Hello."

Gill nodded in greeting.

"So, you're the fish Nemo talks so much about," he extended a fin. "Marlin."

"Gill," said the idol extending his own, "It's a huge honour to finally meet the guy who crossed the ocean to rescue his kid from humans."

"Ah, that old story," chuckled Marlin, "I had hoped only a few knew about it, but by the time we got back the entire reef was talking about it. I didn't mean for it to reach continents but there you go."

"Did you really blow up three sharks?"

"Uh…"blow up" is a strong phrase, I'd say more like "hindered."

Nemo looked to both fish, pleased they were getting along. "You have to meet Dory now Gill! She loves guests!"

"Hold on Nemo, I'm sure Gill's had a very long journey, we should leave him to rest for a bit."

"Nah, it's fine Sir, really. Although my gang and I have been travelling for days...I was hoping we could find a place to stay, even if it's just temporary so they can all settle in. Never been in the open before ya see?"

"Oh, there's an empty cave just a few tail strokes from here," offered Marlin, "used to belong to a moray eel but you know, it's spacious enough-"

"Sounds perfect," declared Gill. "I'll tell the others."

As he watched the idol swim away, Marlin felt he should say something. It couldn't have been easy to be trapped in a box for so long, thirsting for the sea. It certainly couldn't have been easy charting it, ducking predators at every turn. He knew exactly what it was like to be on the receiving end of a hungry beast…

"Uh...excuse me? Mr Gill?"

The idol turned around his long dorsal fin trailing behind him.

"I just wanted to...thank you for taking care of my son while he was in danger...It's nice to know he was with fish he could trust."

Gill chuckled lightly, "Hey, don't mention it Mister, just did what I could, ya know?"

Marlin nodded. "Yeah."

"Come on Gill!" called Nemo, now so excited his little fin was fluttering faster than the currents of the EAC.

"Watch your lucky fin Nemo!" Marlin cautioned him, "I don't want to have to keep you in the anemone if you hurt yourself, remember what happened last time?"

Nemo half rolled his eyes. "I didn't see the rock Dad, I'm sorry. Come on Gill, I have to tell the others about our latest adventure! And I want to hear their stories too!"

Gill couldn't help but chuckle again fondly, "Kids huh?"

Marlin shared a chortle of his own, "Yep. Kids."

* * *

Dory passed yet another large rock crevice checking under it and apologising profusely to any crabs or small invertebrates she disturbed. Which one was Hank's again? She was sure she had marked it with a shell at the foot of the cave mouth to remind herself of the correct address. Every one of these caves looked like Hank's home. What colour was the shell she had left? White? No, white would be too plain, it would be invisible against the sand. Purple perhaps…

Her thought pattern trailed off as she heard voices in the distance. Turning about sharply she saw several figures swimming her way.

"And then, we went through the pipes, where we found Dory and she was talking to her friend Destiny who's a whale-well, she's a whale shark but she doesn't have any teeth…"

Dory recognised that voice. It was Nemo. Wait, did ask for her? She heard her name and Destiny's too, so it was only logical. Swiftly she propelled herself forward leaving a tiny trail of silver bubbles in the wake of her golden tail. She saw that it was Nemo, talking to a large sepia coloured fish which resembled a coconut with spikes. Behind him were two yellow fish, one a tang and the other a gamma who looked as though his top half had been dipped in violet ink. (That shell was purple, she concluded as the memory swam back to her) and a twiggy cleaner shrimp who scuttled across the homes of other fish as he went, scraping away barnacles and picking away at white algae.

"Sounds like you had yourselves a wild time huh Sharkbait," said the porcupinefish, "how'd ya manage to escape?"

"We just swam through more pipes," Nemo said, somewhat disappointed there wasn't more to his own tale, "then we ended up in quarantine."

"Qua-run-teen?" repeated Gurgle the gamma with the purple face, "You mean that place where all the sick fish go?"

"Yeah how'd you know?" asked Nemo brightly.

"Listen kid, before I came to Dr Sherman's, I had my own tank. Kid who ran the place never cleaned a thing. I swear the scum on the side of the glass was looking at me. All the fish were taken out one day and dropped in clean tanks. The dentist brought me back. Can't say I've ever been as grateful to a human since."

"Didn't Pet Palace get shut down?" came the voice of Gill from the back of the troop.

"Oui," said Jacques, "too much filth. Reforms needed. Peach read me ze headline when the dentiste left out his newspaper."

Nemo never bothered to ask what any of those words meant. Instead he had locked eyes with a familiar blue tang.

" Dory!" he yelled cheerfully swimming straight into her outstretched yellow fins.

"Hey, Nemo," she said holding him close. She looked up to see the other fish following him and staring quizzically back at her. "Are these friends of yours?"

"Yeah! Meet Bloat, Gurgle and Jacques. They're the fish who helped me while I was stuck in that tank."

Dory looked puzzled for a moment. "Uh, which tank?"

"The one in the dentist's office remember? You flew in on Nigel to rescue me? The pelican?"

Dory had a fleeting memory of being tossed around in lukewarm water in a giant orange bill, the screeching of a thousand seagulls echoing behind her; "Ooh! Those fish! Hi, I'm Dory. You're gonna have to forgive me here I'm terrible with names…"

Nemo watched with pride as his old friends met his best friend. From behind the coral, Gill emerged with Sheldon and Pearl playing at his side and Peach draped like a frond across his dorsal. Behind him was Bubbles, going mad with delight as he chased his own namesake around in circles while Deb popped them. Dory who had been manically introducing herself to the others stopped when she saw the new faces. "Hi! I'm Dory!" she started again, "Wow, are you some kind of angelfish, you're really handsome, I wish I had fins like that."

Gill paused but laughed. "Uh, thanks."

"Is that a starfish! Cool! My roomie was a starfish...for like five seconds before he snapped at me...oh, never mind he was a crab…"

"This is Dory," Nemo explained. "She's a little-forgetful-" (at this point Dory had raced back to Bloat, Gurgle and Jaques and was introducing herself all over again) "but super nice! She helped my Dad look for me."

"Any friend of your Dad's a friend of mine kid," Gill replied.

"Oh it is so nice to see new faces on the reef, I'll have to tell Hank about-" she gasped, "Hank! That's right! Behind the red seagrass! I couldn't have forgotten!" She shot off like a cork from a bottle, leaving behind a crowd of blank faced fish.

"Is she coming back?" asked Gurgle.

"I don't know," Nemo confessed, "She's gone to get Hank."

"Hank?" asked Gill.

"This old octopus who moved in a few weeks back."

"Oh. Great." sighed Gurgle thinking about slimy tentacles and sharp beaks. Now he really wished he was back in those bags.

Sure enough Dory did return, dragging a half-asleep, half-camoflaged giant octopus behind her by one tentacle.

"Hank, Hank here they are, come and say Hi!"

The octopus begrudgingly rubbed his eye with one arm and squinted. "You woke me up for this? More fish?"

"Please to meet you too," drawled Peach.

"Remember I told you Nemo got fishnapped?" Dory said practically tugging on Hank to get him to stay awake. He jolted at this question looking directly from Nemo to the newcomer fish. "No?!"

"Oh," giggled Dory, "guess I have more stories to tell you than I thought….anyway these guys helped him out."

Hank peered at the face of the Tank Gang very carefully like an old man through reading glasses. "You seem familiar," he said to Gill, "Have we met?"

"I don't think so Sir, I would have remembered."

"Oh, if I only I had such a gift," Dory mocked herself harmlessly.

"Huh. Well Dory are you coming to help with the cave or not?"

"Oh _rightyeahsuretoytallysorry_...darn thoughts mixin' me up...BYE NEMO, BYE NEMO'S FRIENDS!" she called as her cephalopod companion tried to drag her away.

'Bye Dory!" called Deb, "she was nice, wasn't she just lovely, I like her."

"We better go too Nemo," said Sheldon, "we left Tad back at the nursury."

"Ugh, never mind him," scoffed Pearl, "he was acting like a meanie so he'll better get used to being treated like one."

"Hold on," said Gill, sensing the strange hostility in the little girl's voice, "Who's this Tad kid young lady?"

"He's just a friend of ours," Nemo explained quickly, "He just acts too high and mighty sometimes."

"High and mighty huh? Reminds me of a kid I used to go to school with. Billy I think his name was. Anyway where is this kid, maybe we can sort this out."

Pearl and Sheldon seemed disturbingly eager leading Gill towards the nursury but Nemo half heartedly swam along worried he was going to get Tad into trouble.

"Gill! I told you no scaring the neighbourhood kids!" called Peach over to him.

"I'm not gunna scare him," Gill called back. When he was out of earshot he muttered, "Just teach him a lesson is all."

* * *

Tad dug his nose into the soft eggshell sand to retrieve the mouldy sponge for another throw. He tossed it mid-water, knocking it with his tail and it landed perfectly in the small hole of a tiny tubed coral. Although playing by himself was a little boring he tried his best to occupy his own section of space.

"And he scores again!" Tad cheered himself, creating a fake applause. He retrieved the sponge from the tube and got ready to throw it again when he spotted the faint shapes of his friends swimming over the bronze reef plates towards him.

"Ha! I knew you guys would come back! Ready for another round of me beating yo-" he trailed off as he saw the figure of another fish, large with black and white markings. "Uh...you guys...There's a big fish, look behind…"

"Hey Tad," Sheldon said gleefully as he approached the butterflyfish. "We've brought a new friend to play."

"This is Gill," said Pearl equally amused, "He's come to join us. Hope that's okay." Tad watched as the larger fish, a moorish idol, was joined by Nemo, and was shocked to see that they had similar fins. In fact this fish looked as though he had been through many battles: scars on his right side, a ragged black fin, a white gash down one of his eyes. Those chilling eyes...a deep blood red. It was enough to make Tad shiver.

"Hey Tad," said Nemo, without the satisfactory grimness of his friends, "Gill here said he used to play Sponge too, and he asked if he could have a game. Is that alright?"

Tad half gulped as the adult fish stared down at him coldly. His stony stare bore into the boy, seeming to study, possibly challenge him. Well, Tad thought, he wasn't going to let him.

"That's fine," he replied cooly.

"Right. Let's play," the idol said. Although he addressed them all he did not for a moment break eye contact with Tad.

They started simply to begin with: Gill drew a circle in the sand with his good fin, threw the sponge to the centre and told the children that they would all have a turn to try and hit it before it touched the floor. Sheldon little by little gained more confidence swimming into the ring and hitting at it with his snout until finally catching it with his tail.

"Good shot!" Gill commented, "Anyone else?"

"Oh, me me!" said Pearl volunteering herself into the ring. She headbutted the object and caught it by using all her tentacles at once to hug it close to her. When Nemo stepped in, he took extra care in throwing it and used all of his might to reach up and catch the sponge in his teeth. "Excellent work kid" Gil told him. Tad frowned. He was sure that counted as a foul. When it was his turn, he tried using a technique similar to Nemo's: throwing it high until t reached his mouth. That way he could catch it on his snout and show of his balancing skills, but just as the sponge barely touched his lips, the moorish idol swam into him and knocked it out of his grip.

"Hey-" Tad tried to protest but the idol was already getting together a different game: catching.

Gil was a patient teacher with all of them. Tutoring Nemo in the tank had certainly paid off he thought, for the young boy seemed as strong as ever even with his bad fin. However, every time Tad tried to score a goal, or even catch, Gill would knock the sponge away just as he had done with the ring. Tad was beginning to grow frustrated and and indignant. He kept his smug poker face up until they had a proper game. Gill passed to Nemo who in turn passed to Pearl who then passed it to Sheldon so he could score it into the tubed coral. Tad tried hard to use his butterflyfish speed to his advantage but his ability went unrecognised under the stare of the idol. Finally the game ended, and Tad was reduced to what can only be described as a sulking tearful mess.

"What smarts kid?" Gill asked sauntering over to him.

Tad glared, "you know what! You haven't let me have a turn the whole time we've been playing!"

"Is that so?"

"Yeah it is!"

"Makes ya mad don't it?"

"Of course it does! You didn't even give me a chance! You were just picking favourites."

Gill rolled his eyes, but only to himself. "See here's the jist of it kid. When one fish has certain unfair advantages over another during a sport, he is able to win a lot faster and this makes him better than everybody else. It's true," he added, seeing the surprised look on the youngster's face, "You are better Tad, a natural. But here's the thing. If you know you're better and you start acting like you're better-that doesn't make you a better player. Know what I mean?" Tad shook his head. "It means that when you are in a game with kids who you know are slower and might have more trouble playing, it is your duty as the expert player to help them, not chastise them. War Horse over there has a lung impairment. Pinky has smaller limbs. And your friend Sharkbait has a lame fin."

Tad looked over to his friends who were busy laughing and congratulating themselves. "Yeah. That's true."

"So, don't you think you need to uphold the better player status and remember that every fish has a different playing ability from you? Sharkbait isn't as fast as you, but he still played like a trooper."

Tad blinked up at the idol. In no part of the game had he ever expected this. His dad had told him it was important to win the game as well as well as take part.

"So," said Gill nudging the sponge towards Tad with his nose, "What do ya say? Be a big head or a leader?" He tossed the sponge upwards and this time allowed Tad to catch it. "A leader!" the boy said proudly. "Gee I never thought about it like that before-so I can still be good but let everybody have a chance huh?"

Gill nodded, "That's the truth kiddo."

Tad was about to swim off towards his friends, but retreated momentarily. "Hey Mr Gill?"

"Yeah kid?"

"Can I have a nickname too?"

Gil chuckled heartily, "Sure Tigerfish," he said ruffling his fins.

"Tad?"

Tad paused and the children joined him. Tad's father had arrived.

"There you are, it's nearly late noon, where have you been?"

"Oh just playing with Nemo, Sheldon and Pearl," Tad replied brighter than usual his father noted, "Mr Gill here was giving us some training techniques, we played Sponge it was awesome!"

"I see," smiled the older butterflyfish, and it was a strange smile, one that Gill recognised. "I don't believe we've met, I'm Bill, Tad's father.

"Gill," the idol replied stiffly. Then after a moment's pause he added, "You wouldn't happen to have been taught by a monkfish during schooling by any chance?"

Bill looked surprised. "Why, yes I have why do ask?"

Gill studied the fish's face intently for a few seconds. "No reason."


	13. Mackerel

_A mackerel swims_

_Gliding through the rushing tide_

_Heading out to sea_


	14. Night Terrors

_The cooling breeze of summer swept itself across the pale blue water, the sleek golden rays from the haze of Australian sunrise penetrating the surface. The gulls patrolled the clouds in search of an early morning meal, but were fortunately cowardly enough not to dive too deep for their catch. a single red and white buoy bobbed on the surface creating ripples as gentle as the light foam on the surf. Below the depths, the warmth dropped...but only in temperature. For another warmth set a cosy anemone aglow. Inside Marlin and his mate Coral waited for several eggs to hatch. The female clownfish held them close to her, a shield of tangerine scales in a world where such scales could be so easily torn off._

_"_ _Aren't they beautiful?" she whispered._

_"_ _Incredible," Marlin agreed, "I still can't believe we were able to push for more. How many of them are there this time?"_

_"_ _146," she replied somewhat disappointed._

_"_ _146, Honey that's fantastic!"_

_Coral shook her head. "It's too low. Last time there were over 400." Marlin's heart twinged in pain, but he tried to keep smiling._

_"_ _Not every egg makes it, but I'm sure that this time we will have a family...our family."_

_Coral smiled and leaned in to nuzzle her mate. At that moment Nemo and another little clownfish swam in through the tendrils of the anemone._

_"_ _Ew, were you two kissing?"_

_Marlin looked embarrassed but Coral merely giggled. "It's what mommies and daddies do. Here, come and take a look at your new brothers and sisters."_

_Nemo and the little clownfish swam over to inspect the wriggling orbs that in a few days would be their siblings. "They don't look like babies," the younger clownfish said._

_"_ _They are not yet grown darling," Coral explained, "all fish look like that when they are born, you both did."_

_"_ _Gross! I never looked like that," said Nemo shaking his tiny head._

_Marlin laughed, "Well, when the babies do arrive looking like actual fish maybe we can give them some living space. I think you two may have to share the cavern so they can become immune to the anemone."_

_"_ _Not with her," said Nemo pulling a face at his younger sibling, "she rolls over in the night."_

_"_ _I do not!"_

_"_ _Do too!"_

_"_ _Okay you too, enough," said Marlin, annoyed but slightly amused, "Listen, when they arrive I want both of you to be the responsible ones. Nemo you're the eldest so I expect it from you the most. We're all going to help Mommy okay?"_

_"_ _Cause she's swollen and fat," said the little girl clownfish._

_"_ _Not too fat for a hug, get over here!" teased Coral pulling her young ones close._

_A loud rumble overhead cut their laughter short. Marlin immediately looked up scanning the surface of the water._

_"_ _What was that honey?" Coral whispered softly._

_"_ _I, I don't know."_

_"_ _Should we check it out?"_

_Marlin stared at his mate to his children, all of whom looked terrified. The sound had been a deep throaty snarl, echoing through the water in their direction._

_Marlin knew what it was. Coral knew what it was._

_And they both knew if they didn't get their children to safety soon, they would all be in grave danger._

_"_ _I'll go first," Marlin told her firmly, "Nemo, stay with your sister, and whatever you do, stay hidden and don't make a sound."_

_"_ _But why Dad-"_

_"_ _Just do I say," said Marlin carefully. "Everything's going to be alright."_

_He swam upwards from the anemone and scanned the water for signs of shadows. It was crystal clear, like water droplets rolling off the sail of a boat after a storm. Marlin looked upwards, behind him, below him, all seemed clear…_

_...until he faced forwards and saw Coral staring at something, frozen with dread._

_The barracuda faced them like a torpedo with teeth, ready to attack and devour the juicy morsels hiding in the fronds of their home. It was posturing itself ready for an attack. Marlin tried to make himself look bigger while Coral swam in front._

_"_ _Coral…!" Marlin half whispered, half screamed._

_Coral ignored him completely. It was as though he hadn't spoken at all._

_"_ _Coral...don't you dare make another move out of this anemone...do you hear me?"_

_Still Coral didn't move. Marlin was becoming desperate now._

_"_ _Coral I'm begging you, don't do this to yourself. We have a future remember?" We're a family again."_

_Coral inched ever closer to the menacing beast, which Marlin could see was beginning to grow in size, swelling itself up until it looked like a miniature submarine._

_"_ _Coral...please…"_

_It all happened so fast. One moment, Coral had swam from the anemone, the next the barracuda sped straight towards her. Marlin hollered at Nemo and his daughter to stay put, knowing the beast couldn't get them while they were in stinging tentacles, but instead they swam. Marlin screamed for them, shouting for them to turn back, but Nemo's lame fin was weighing down him and his sister who had already begun to sink. Marlin cried out for his children until his voice was hoarse. He cried out for Coral but couldn't see her anywhere, just the dark mass of the barracuda with it's fangs bared, ready to swallow him. He could smell blood, hear the cries of his beloved son, "Daddy! Help Me…!"_

* * *

Marlin awoke gasping for breath, his eyes wide with fear and his scales sticking like a fungus to the rest of his body. He came face to face with something dark and swaying, and for one terrifying moment he was certain the barracuda had swallowed him. Instead he was relieved to see that it was just the tendrils of the anemone dyed blue in the moonlight. Then something else occurred to him-Nemo! He checked beside him and sure enough, there lay his beloved son, sleeping peacefully his tiny chest heaving in and out. Marlin watched him carefully, sighing with relief every time his child's chest rose and deflated. He gazed up at the opening of the anemone to see a bright silver moon appearing staring down at him. It must have been at least eight years to this night it happened. Marlin may have woken up from his nightmare, but he could still hear the screams, the thudding of his heartbeat, the monstrous roar…

Marlin shook in discomfort and burst out of the anemone, panting heavily. He tried to acquaint himself to his natural surroundings. The reef was shrouded in darkness, the deafening silence making him feel queasy. It was not an uncommon occurrence for Marlin to experience nightmares, ever since his mate Coral and all their children had perished to the fangs of a ravenous beast. Sometimes they weren't even nightmares. Sometimes he would have dreams where Coral was still alive, and they would be together, raising Nemo and spending their days lost to anyone except each other...but then he would awake and the cold hard truth would come crashing down.

Marlin leaned his head against the violet tubed coral which stood not far from their home and tried to calm his nerves and stop his heaving stomach. He closed his eyes and sighed deeply, the only way to try and dissuade a panic attack. "Go away," he whispered to himself, "make it go away. None of it's real…" He could feel his eyes prick with tears the more he tried to convince himself that he was fine.

"Hey."

Marlin instantly stopped his grievance and wheeled round to a familiar kind face.

"Dory-! Dory," he said quietly, "I thought you were asleep."

"I was but, I heard you get up," she turned to the anemone for a moment, 'is Banjo okay?"

"Nemo is fine," replied Marlin. He felt guilty for having awoken her, and turned to face her properly, "What about you Dory, trouble falling asleep?"

"Mm-mm,"the blue tang shook her head smiling, "I just, heard a noise that's all. Hey are you okay, you look awful. Have you been crying?"

"Uh, no," said Marlin trying to stop the tears from coming again, "I just…" he wavered, seeing the concerned look in his best friend's eyes. He sighed unable to hold in the feeling which ate at him like a parasite. "I uh...I had a bad dream, that's all." He went to swm back to his anemone but the words which came from his friend made his heart cease.

"Do you wanna talk about it?"

Marlin didn't turn around. 'Uh...I'd rather not Dory, if that's okay." Dory seemed taken aback at this but she agreed not to press further.

"Okay."

'Okay."

There was a long pause, causing the silence of the darkened deep to encase them once more. Dory broke it, swimming into her brain coral. "Well, night then!"

"Dory Wait…"

"Hm?" the blue tang poked her head out watching her friend as hovered outside his home.

Marlin waited a long time to respond. Finally he spoke. "Could you...could you stay for a minute?"

Dory, relieved swam straight out of her cavern to join him at his side. "Sure partner, what's the matter?"

"I-had a nightmare," he began carefully.

'Oh you poor fish, I'm sorry," said Dory taking his fin, "Was it a really bad one."

"Well…" Marlin knew there was no point in lying to her. Even though Dory was forgetful she was anything but clueless, "Yes. Yes it _was_ a bad one."

Dory edged closer to him. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

"I told you I-no, I don't, I'm sorry."

'Are you sure? You'd feel better if you did."

"You think?" Marlin asked quietly debating himself whether or not he could completely confide in her.

"Well, it always used to help me when I had a scary dream to try and get it out, just talk to myself about it. I forget most of mine the next day anyway."

Marlin envied her short term memory loss sometimes. While it may be a burden to live with it sure did make erasing the past easier.

"Well, alright. I...I was dreaming about...my wife," he said slowly.

"Huh. You never told me you had a wife," said Dory, "What's her name?"

"C-Coral," said Marlin, almost choking, "She...she _was_ my wife."

"What happened?" Dory asked softly, "You can tell me you know? Anything." Marlin looked into her eyes and could see that she truly meant it, "And if it's personal, I'll just forget about it, so it'll be like you never told me, okay?"

Marlin smiled. "Well, Coral and I were happy. We had just found this lovely anemone that looked over the Drop Off, and we were about to become parents. Eggs, over 400 of them. Well, we were just fooling one day, I wasn't really paying attention much I was just so excited about being a dad. But she swam out of the house and there...there was a barracuda just floating there, waiting. She went to save our children and it came after her. I tried to stop it I really did, but I just wasn't quick enough. It took everything. Except one egg...the one I called "Nemo."

The painful silence came back, stretching out for an eternity. The eeriness of it all only dispersed when Marlin realised he was sobbing. Dory had not moved from his side while he told his story, and she stared at him, devastation welling in her magenta eyes.

Marlin suddenly felt two fins pull him in close. Dory was holding him against her leaning her own head onto his. "I'm sorry," she was saying over and over again, "so so sorry…"

"Y-You don't have anything to be sorry about Dory," said Marlin, "none of it was your fault."

"Yeah," sniffed Dory, "but none of it was yours either."

Those were the words Marlin had wanted to hear for years. He embraced her back, and this time, he let the tears flow.

"There, there," Dory soothed him, "it's alright, you'll be okay."

The two stayed that way for a very long time, bathed in moonlight, until Marlin broke off the contact. "Well, I'd better get back to Nemo," he said. Dory retreated to her coral home. As he turned to go back inside the anemone, he looked back towards his blue tang friend who was busy nestling herself down for the remaining hours of the night.

"Uh, Dory?"

"Yeah?" she yawned.

"Thank you."

"For wha-oh. Any time. What are friends for right?"

"Right," smiled Marlin, "Goodnight Dory."

"Nighty-night."

The nightmares subsided that night. Instead Marlin dreamed of nothing. He pulled Nemo closer to him and buried himself into the folds of the anemone. Dory was right, he did feel better for spilling his thoughts, however horrible they may have been. He was calmed even more by the fact that nothing would be passed on to Nemo since she would forget everything in the morning.

But Dory didn't forget. She tossed and turned unable to get Marlin's story out of her head. It was unusual for her to soak up new information so easily. She made a promise then, that whenever she heard Marlin waking up in the middle of the night, she would come out to comfort him, whether he needed it or not.

After all, she knew exactly what it was like to have strange dreams about family.


	15. Reefugees

Dark clouds gathered in the pale blue dusk of the Australian sky, turning it into a murky tar pit, stirring like the contents of a cauldron. A clap of thunder sounded like a foghorn from above and the wind began to whip itself against the waves. The ships which patrolled the waters retreated to dock to escape the hellish endurance which loomed closer and closer. In Sydney, people had closed and double locked their doors, kept their children inside, brought their pets in from the garden. In Canberra people had stocked up on food, and water so they didn't have to run to the shops during the storm. In Wellington, people were boarding up their windows, and clutching torches to prepare for power outages. They rummaged in their cupboards for medical supplies in case of falling beams.

Underwater however, it was a different story. There were some reef fish who hadn't even heard the thunder, too preoccupied with gathering food for their supper and cleaning their houses while other fish had known the storm was coming from that morning. They had already found places to hide and had stored a week's worth of food. The fish who had only just now sensed the oncoming cyclone were burying themselves into their own make-shift shelters and cowering under coral which looked sturdy enough.

Marlin and Nemo swam in and out of the anemone, arming themselves with its toxins.

"Dad, why do we have to brush again?" Nemo asked.

"Because hurricanes form strong winds which carry pathogens with them," his father stated matter-of-factly, "Gurgle told me."

Nemo half frowned. "Dad, I think you should maybe stop listening to Gurgle, he's just making you scared."

"Who's scared? I'm not scared," Marlin lied, "I'm just concerned for your health that's all."

Nemo was about to say something else, but Dory swimming in circles around her home caught his attention.

"Dory? Are you okay?" Dory was muttering to herself, looking very distressed. "Dory?"

She snapped out of her trance, "Oh, yeah, Nemo, sure! Just-" she looked upwards, "I have a funny feeling... "

"That's your gut kid."

Dory jumped, "Gah! Who's there!"

A pair of turquoise eyes appeared on a piece of scarlet coral, and then a scarlet cephalopodic body with it.

"Oh Hank, it's you-wait my what?"

"Your gut," Hank repeated expertly sliding down from the coral and onto her home, "and I strongly suggest you listen to it."

"He's right Dory," came Marlin's voice, "listen to your instincts. When they say "hide" you…" he motioned for her to finish.

"Um…...ride?"

"No, Dory," sighed Marlin, "We're fish: when danger comes you swim, when food is near to find it and when storms come you take shelter, understand?"

"Storm?" Dory looked up again, "Oh wow, it's getting dark, looks like there's a storm on the way."

Hank rolled his eyes and pulled her face down gently to meet his eyes, "Look, when nature gives you something you grab it by the fins and go with it. It just might keep you alive. You ever wondered how I escaped from a little boy's grip and managed to get away with seven tentacles?"

"Uh…"

"Ink. Lots of it," he shuddered in embarrassment, "Anyway, I suggest bunking with your friends over there"-he pointed to Marlin and Nemo-"until it all blows over otherwise you're gonna get yourself hurt."

"B-But, I can't go in the anemone I'll get stung!"

Marlin blinked in surprise. She had remembered not to go near the anemone!

Hank stopped. "Uh. Okay. Hm...wanna stay with me for the night?"

"Thank you!" Dory breathed a sigh of relief, "It is so kind of you really Hank I'll have to go tell my parents that we'll be safe." She gasped. "My parents! They live on the other side of the reef, maybe they don't now about the storm. We have to get to them!"

"Are you crazy?" said Hank. Stumbling over his poor choice of words, he added "It's much too far. Besides, they were probably warned by some of the other fish living nearby."

Dory gulped looking up at the surface again where the sky was thickening with more dark clouds. "I can't risk it Hank, I'm going after them."

She shot off. "Oh no, Dory wait!" Hank called slithering over corals as he raced after her.

"Dad, we have to go too!" pleaded Nemo.

"Nemo, No," said Marlin, "we're staying right here where it's safe."

"But Dory could be in danger!" Nemo begged, "Please Dad, you know she forgets things easily, why won't you help her? Don't you care about her?"

Marlin, stricken by his son's outburst stared in the direction Hank had left. It was true. He did care about Dory. He cared about her a lot.

"Okay," he sighed, "let's go, but stick close to me."

* * *

Hank maneuvered his way through the reef, writhing amongst rocks and tearing through the seagrass. He had nearly caught up with the speck of blue in the distance when he saw them: there were still fish roaming the reef. What were they thinking? Didn't they know when danger was near?

"Hey!" he shouted to the startled residents, "You folks better scram, there's a hurricane about to hit us!"

"Hurricane?!" came the panicked cries of fish who instantly grouped together and scrambled for shelter. Hank noticed there was a family of betas who couldn't find a place, with their smallest son wailing loudly. He scooped every one of them up in five of his tentacles while using the other two as legs to sprint across the ocean floor. Dory meanwhile seemed further away still, darting under ledges and in between branches looking for her parents house. As Hank ran, he shouted words of warning to every fish he passed to let them hide or climb on to him. One concern was at the front of his mind during his determination: that Dory was safe.

* * *

Marlin and Nemo followed the route where Hank had travelled, (Nemo had identified the faded marks of suction cups on some of the rocks) and were swimming along by the drop off near the open sea. The water on the surface started to tilt as more waves rolled over them. Suddenly a great white shape loomed above them flipping its tail frantically.

"Bailey!" called Nemo.

The beluga whale looked down "Oh hey you guys, just checking the depths here is all."

"Depths?" asked Marlin.

"Oh, yeah, it gets super rough near the surface when the wind gets like this, it's why I always dive to the bottom so I can avoid it. Hey have you seen Destiny anywhere?"

"She's not with you?" said Nemo worriedly.

Bailey panicked, "Uh okay let me check my echolocation," he started holding his temple and making low frequency calls. "Wait...oooooo….for…oooo...it… Aha! I found her! She's on the other side of the reef with...oooo...Dory!"

"Dory!" both clownfish exclaimed in unison.

"Is she alright?" asked Marlin hurriedly.

"Uh...Yep! She's on her way to her parent's home! And I can see Hank too-wow, that's a lot of fish he's got with him and oh my goodness he is going with it! Oh Bailey, you are on a roll today!"

"Can you hear anything else?" Nemo asked.

Bailey made calls at a higher pitch. "OOOOOOO...No sun...just black above...and I'm picking up something el-"

Boom!

A deafening roar filled the air causing the whole reef to shake. Nemo clung on to Marlin to avoid being swept away by the sudden undertow.

"Please tell me that was another whale!" yelled Marlin trying to steady himself.

"Nope, not a whale Sir," said Bailey, "Thunder...with just a hint of…"

A frightening crack and a blinding white flash scarred the surface causing all of them to leap in place and Bailey to rub his forehead as hot pain interfered with his senses. "L-Lightning," he finished breathlessly. Suddenly a chilling presence struck his echolocation, and the look on his face worried the two smaller fish. "What is it?" asked Nemo trembling.

"Sharks! Right below us!" whimpered Bailey.

Marlin and Nemo peered over the edge of the reef and sure enough there were three familiar sharks swimming closely together almost hidden in the deep water.

"Hey! I know those guys!" said Nemo proudly.

"You do?!" Bailey screamed hysterically.

"Uh huh!" he took a deep breath and much to his father's horror called down to them. "Bruce! Anchor! Chum!"

All three predatory heads turned upwards. The bellowing voice of Bruce could be heard.

" _Nemo? 'S'that you son?"_

"Yeah, my Dad's here too!" Marlin winced at this.

_"Is 'e now?"_

" _Oh that's great!"_ came Chum's voice.

" _I can't see much from down here,"_ came Anchor's voice " _but youse need to scurry back home, there's a storm brewin'!"_

"We know!" Marlin called back, "Are you guys going to be safe?"

" _Not up there mate,"_ said Bruce, " _when there's a strong one, we sharks go right down and wait till it's over. When we first sensed the vibration this afta'noon we left the sub and started divin'."_

" _Not gonna be around those balloons if they pop durin' a gail,"_ Anchor added referring to the mines.

"Hey-uh…" Bailey hesitated, "Do you mind I swim down there with you guys? I'm kind of in a dangerous position up here."

" _What_?" yelled Chum, _"a dolphin? Come off it mate you must be jokin'-Ow!"_ the obvious sound of a fin making swift upside contact with a snout could be heard from the abyss.

 _"Swim on down Cobber!"_ called Bruce, _"an' don't you worry about Chum, I'll make sure 'e behaves 'imself." Chum grumbled in protest._

"See you guys!" called Bailey and he dived straight down "looks ike I'll be holding my breath for a while."

* * *

Dory swam with Destiny's enormous shadow overhead, looking at shell after shell until she found it...the outside of her parent's house. "Got it!"

"Great!" the whale shark said, "but if you're hiding in there, where am I gonna hide?"

"I'll think of something," Dory responded, right now she couldn't risk forgetting her main objective why she had travelled this far. 'Mom? Dad?" she called inviting herself inside. She was quickly caught by both parents who swam out to greet her.

"Dory, you're out of breath your gills are shaking!" said Jenny.

"What's wrong Kelpcake?" said Charlie.

"I was looking for-you guys-the sky, the storm!" their daughter rambled.

"Ssh, ssh sweetie we know," said Jenny.

"You do?"

"Uh huh, one of the neighbours told us this morning."

"Oh," despite herself Dory giggled. She had been so wrapped up in worry over nothing. "I just wanted to make sure that's all!"

The appearance of a limp and panting of Hank caught them off guard. Two of his tentacles were throbbing from running so fast and he had hundreds of small fish and crabs sticking to him, each one thanking him as it swam off. Hank slid to the sand heaving.

"Hank are you okay buddy?" came Dory's voice. However to Hank it was two voices and hazy twin Dorys.

"Urgh...No. And told ever make me do that again."

"Do what?"

"Swim after you like that, you know better than to swim off on your own."

"I'm sorry! Should we find your cave now?"

"What? It's too late for that kid, look at the the sky!" Dory glanced at the surface and gasped. Sure enough the storm clouds had darkened the entire reef.

"But we have to go back! Marlin and Nemo are still at the anemone!"

"Too bad! Anyway they're smart they'll just find shelter like everybody else!"

"Would you two like to stay with us?" offered Jenny, "we have just enough space."

"Yes!" sad Hank at once.

"No!" said Dory at once.

"Not to be a pain but, I'm still out in the open here!" Destiny cried throwing her fins up.

"Uh okay," said Dory rubbing her forehead as if to conjure thoughts, "Think Dory think Dory what would you do...Oh I've got it! Destiny, a brave fish once gave me this advice-"

"What brave fish?" the whale shark interrupted.

"I forget his name...but he told me this: Swim Down!" she told Destiny firmly.

Destiny began hyperventilating. "Swim down, swim down...nononono ican'tdothis! ican'tdothis!"

"Destiny," said Dory more serious than her parents had ever heard her. "Yes you can. Swim Down."

Destiny finally took a deep breath and plunged, instantly feeling her stomach drop. Although strangely enough the rocking movements of the uneasy current seemed to drop the further she went from the surface.

"Dory!"

The blue tang turned around and there was Marlin and Nemo. They lunged towards her in a tight embrace.

"Are you hurt?" Marlin immediately asked.

"I'm fine, don't worry."

"We're all fine here," said Charlie, "but we have to move soon, look at the wind."

The fronds and corals around them had started billowing in one direction spilling algae everywhere and the temperature in the water seemed to drop. Marlin held on to Nemo's fin tightly as the wind threw them forward. The cave where Jenny and Charlie lived was cracked from a sudden quake which caused the entire reef to shake. Marlin collided head first with Dory who fell into Jenny who grabbed her mate's fin. The fish were caught quick as a flash by Hank who moved them towards another nearby cave. He lead them delicately to the entrance before tucking himself in. "What's happening?" wailed Nemo.

"Looks like a seaquake," said Charlie, "there must be a heck of a storm going on up there."

"Whatever you do, nobody panic," said Jenny although she seemed close to it herself, "right now we stay in here together and wait for it to pass."

* * *

"Peach, status report!"

Peach the seastar being held high towards the surface by Bloat the pufferfish and Bubbles the yellow tang shouted down to them; "WINDS COMING IN FROM THE NORTH AT 120KM NOTHING BUT 180FT WAVES FOR 25 LEAGUES!"

Gill poked his own head out of the water next to hers. The ocean was unrecognisable. The usually cerulean water had become a dull blueish-grey. The waves rose and fell again crashing into each other and disintegrating into a frothy foamy mass, spitting a salty spray. Gill and Peach could feel themselves lift upwards from the force of the currents. The sky was nothing but a dark grey blanket filled with dark clouds which were threatening to rain down more lightening. Gill quickly pulled Peach back into the water. "It's chaos up there," he told the others, "It looks like it's too dangerous to move anywhere but this spot." He gestured to a clump of rose coral which offered holes just big enough for them to sit in. "Follow me."

Bloat and Bubbles carried Peach while Jacques, Gurgle and Deb stuck close together to avoid the strength of the gale which seemed to have forced itself from the air into the water. Gill paused when he realised that something wasn't right. The seafloor was cracked slightly, as though something was threatening to break from it. The rest of his tank mates didn't know enough about the sea to understand all the dangers but Gill was an ocean fish. He new all to well what this meant.

"Everybody down, right now!" he bellowed hurrying them into the rose coral, "It's a Seaquake, it's a Seaquake!"

The fish huddled themselves into the coral just as the reef itself began vibrating heavily. The sounds of crumbling coral could be heard from miles around and the sight of torn anemones drifting in a flurry of bubbles.

* * *

All of a sudden the shaking stopped. Hank cautiously peered out of the cave.

"What is it Hank?" asked Nemo.

"Something's moving out there," he said narrowing his eyes. He crept out of the cave and slid his way over to where he was sure he had seen a black and white dorsal fin. From a hole in the bottom of a rose coral, seven tropical fish emerged. It was that Moorish Idol and his gang. They looked shaken and scared. As reluctant as Hank was to let more fish into the cave, he knew that rose coral was too delicate to withstand another quake.

"Hey!" he called to them, "in here!"

The idol looked back and turned to his crew. The royal gamma he was with shook his head.

"Gill, don't do it, he's an octopus how do we know he's not going to eat us?"

Gill looked to his companions. Deb the humbug was cowering under one of the arms of Peach who was lying almost lifeless on the sand. Bloat had blown himself up to full size and was drifting silently in shock. Bubbles the yellow tang had had the wind knocked out of him and even Jacques was looking more somber than usual. Gill turned back to Gurgle, "Well if you wanna wait around for the aftershock be my guest but the rest of us are gonna take shelter. Come on everyone!" The seven fish swam slowly and carefully in Hank's direction.

"Thanks."

"Uh-yeah, sure. Don't mention it."

Upon seeing his old tank mate enter the cave Nemo brightened. "Gill You're here too!"

"Sharkbait, you made it!" said Boat hugging the little clownfish.

"Course he did." said Gill, "he's a smart little guy." He addressed the rest of his troop, "Alright gang, we're gunna stay here until the wind dies down or at least until the aftershocks pass. We're in good tentacles here," he said looking to Hank.

The Tank Gang, the septopus, the two clownfish and the family of blue tangs waited while the tempest raged outside their door. Dory suggested playing a game to lighten the mood but Marlin said it probably wasn't the best time, though he appreciated her trying to calm his nerves. Gill and Nemo sat together talking. Gill told him about how when he was a boy his father told him to try and shout back to the thunder. Charlie joined in by saying when a lightning storm broke out in California (on rare occasions) you could hear it on the window glass of the Marine Life Institute and that when Dory used to get scared of it as a fry he would tell her to count the flashes.

"You remember that Kelpcake?" he asked.

"No," Dory admitted, "but I'm real good at counting! I could totally believe it."

A memory flashed before her eyes of her inside her pink coral home, holding her parent's fins as they told her to count each flash until she wasn't scared anymore.

"I think it's stopped," said Gurgle.

"Well I'm not going out to check." said Bloat.

"I'll do it!" said Bubbles brightly. He swam out of the cave. For a while they saw nothing of the yellow tang. Then without warning the shaking erupted again, this time taking the cave with it. Bubbles came swimming towards them screaming; "I was wrong! I was so so wrong!" The group of fish inside began screaming too as the cave crumbled around them. Hank desperately tried to hold up the remaining structure to avoid large rocks falling on those inside.

"Dad!" gasped Nemo, as the dust choked him.

"Nemo!" coughed Marlin, "hang on! I'm coming!"

The cave gave way and scattered the occupants. Peach tried to stay stuck to its walls but came away to the sea floor. Jenny and Charlie stumbled around in the cloud of dust searching for their daughter. "Dory! _Dory_!"

Dory could hear her parents but she couldn't see them. She began breathing heavily the particles filling her gills. "Mom? Dad? Mom! Jenny! Charlie! Hank! Marlin! _Anybody?!"_ Another body collided with her own. She thought it was a large rock but rocks didn't cry out in pain. She realised it was Marlin.

"Dory is that you?" he said.

"Yes!"

"Where's Nemo?"

Dory's heart beat faster. "I don't know!" The dust cleared just enough for her to see the pained look in her friend's face. Her beating heart almost shattered. "'I'll help you look for him!"

She was about to race off but she felt Marlin's fin grab hers urgently. "No!"

"What?"

"Dory we'll look together, you can't just wander off on your own!"

"But Nemo! And Hank and my parents! And those poor fish! What if they're not all in one place?"

"Dory the whole reef is coming down, this is not a discussion!"

Dory snapped a little "Why don't you want me to help? _Why_ won't you let me help you, Marlin please!"

"Because I can't lose you too!" he yelled at her.

Dory went silent. They stared at each other for a moment before Marlin said, "I just can't. Come on, let's look together.

"...Okay…"

They called endlessly into the empty water. Different names, at the same pitches. Marlin could hear something: a whimper from under the sand.

"Nemo?"

It sounded again, and Marlin could see a tiny orange fin peeping out of the sandy floor.

"Nemo!" He and Dory raced to dig him out. His little face was pale and he was unable to open his eyes. "Nemo, wake up! Look at me son please!"

"Daddy…" groaned Nemo.

"Yes son," said Marlin breathlessly, "I'm here, Daddy's here. Dory's here."

There came a flurry of sand as three scarlet tentacles emerged from the earth. A rubbery head and eyes followed. Hank spat dirt and mud as he trekked towards them. "Dory-"

Dory came forward and he opened two of his tentacles to reveal Jenny and Charlie shaken but safe. Dory rushed forward to hug them close. "I thought I'd lost you guys for a second time."

"Us too Dory," said Jenny pulling her daughter close.

The rest of the dust cleared. They looked around them and saw that the reef was in ruins. Corals had been completely uprooted, shells lay smashed into tiny fragments, unidentifiable debris floated aimlessly about. They could only stare in horror at the place they had called home for so long, battered by the forces of nature.

There came a rumbling sound as small fishy faces unearthed themselves from the rubble. Gill's white snout appeared followed by Gurgle's Bloat's and Deb's. "Alright, who's hurt sound off!"

"Aye!" came the sound of everyone. Bubbles wriggled himself free from a fallen branch coral and Jacques unhooked himself from one still miraculously standing to clean away the rubble and help his companions out. Marlin took action when he saw Gill had gotten his bad fin stuck under one of the rocks, giving a still unconscious Nemo for Charlie to hold and lifted him out. Dory swam to his side to aid him in his efforts.

"Thank you," said Gill, looking exhausted.

"Are you alright?" said Marlin.

"Yeah," said Gill waving his ragged fin, "I still got one good one," he added chucking. He helped Jacques lift the rest of the gang from the rocks and guided them safely over to where Hank and the blue tangs were. His heart skipped a beat when he saw Nemo lying almost lifeless in Charlie's fins.

"Sharkbait!" he exclaimed.

"Oh my gosh!" said Boat.

"Is he okay?" came Gurgle's panicked voice.

"What happened?" Peach demanded.

"Nemo!" shouted Bubbles.

Deb was sobbing violently as she rested her head against Nemo's, "No...Please... _No…"_

Marlin stroked his little boy's lucky fin, a single thought repeating itself over and over in his mind: Don't go...not like them.

Dory could see the broken look of her best friend and silently held his fin, staying unusually quiet as she willed Nemo to wake up. Suddenly the boy shivered and moaned, his face contorting in pain.

"Nemo!" said Marlin, his fin shaking as he cupped his son's cheek. Slowly but surely, Nemo opened his eyes. " _Daddy_?"

Marlin's face lit up and he started laughing even as the tears choked him. "Yes son," he said in breathless relief, "I'm right here."

"We're all here for you sweetie," said Peach.

"We were so worried," said Jenny holding him and her close to her.

"G-Gill…" Nemo smiled weakly. The moorish idol came forward.

"Hey Sharkbait."

"I did it Gill," Nemo said, "I showed the thunder who was boss."

"You sure did kiddo," said Bloat patting the boy's head. Nemo winced in pain.

"Don't try to sit up yet," said Marlin, "you've hit your head very badly, you might have a concussion."

"Here," said Hank, taking Nemo from Charlie, "I'll take him. I know my skin looks gross but it's soft enough for him to lie on." Nemo curled up and Marlin saw that one side of his body was badly scratched. "We need to get him somewhere!" he said, "to treat his injuries."

'But where?" said Gurgle despairingly. "Everything's gone."

At that moment operatic singing filled the air. The fish looked up to see Mr Ray gliding overhead with other fish riding on his back.

" _Survivors, Survivors, sound off if you can_

_Call out from the fallout, shout out from the sand_

_Pay attention to instructions, follow my safety plan_

_Climb aboard my lifeboat until we reach reef land, ooooohh…"_

The song was slower, more somber than Mr Ray's other melodies.

"Hey! Over here!" the Tank Gang signalled in unison, "Down here!"

Mr Ray spotted them and instantly dived down. "Thank goodness there's more of ya! I've got at least twenty other stingrays out patrolling the area for survivors of the quake. You folks hurt?"

"Nemo here is!" said Dory.

"We need to get to a surgeonfish as quickly as possible," said Marlin.

"Are there any places left standing?" Gill asked the eagle ray.

"Hard to say," he replied, "All I know is that the wind alone destroyed about fifteen acres of homes. As for the quake, well now they've all been reduced to nothing and I've got about 1500 reefugees."

The seventeen or so fish on his back were cowering, lumped together. One female fish held a guppy who was trying to swim away.

"Are we the only ones you've seen here?" Jenny piped up.

"At the moment, in this area Ma'am," replied Mr Ray, "We found a few on the west side but…" his voice trailed off. "Well. They hadn't made it."

The fish were silent. Their home, neighbours, everything they knew had been taken away in a split second.

"Anyway, you better come aboard!" said Mr Ray putting down his wing for them. Hank was cautious at first but was able to wrap a tentacle around the ray's sting so he could be dragged along. Marlin held Nemo's fin. "Daddy, my eye hurts."

"Don't rub it," Marlin told him, "We'll look at it when we get off okay?"

Gill rested against an inconsolable Deb. Dory stayed with her parents at the back. No one spoke all the way to their destination.

* * *

The schoolground was being used as a base camp for displaced reef inhabitants. All around were blennies, wrasse and surgeons tending to the wounded, mothers holding their terrified children close to them, traumatised fish being wrapped in shawls of kelp and fed food rations. Bloat, Gurgle and Bubbles were being tended to by several surgeonfish who checked their pulses, fins, signs of scale damage. Jacques helped the other cleaner shrimp by tidying up some of the surrounding damage. Hank was also pushing away larger pieces of fallen coral and inviting other displaced fish to come to the playground if they were in need of food or medical assistance. Jenny was comforting Deb, as her motherly instincts went into overdrive from the entire experience. Charlie was telling some of the other kids stories to calm them down. Pearl, Tad and Sheldon sat with Nemo, Gill and Marlin while Nemo's lucky fin and right side were being examined.

"No sign of permanent scarring," the surgeonfish told Marlin, "he has multiple scratches but nothing serious. I suggest we let that sponge soak up any infection and make sure he gets plenty of rest."

"And his head?"

"No concussion luckily, but there is a lump. If it swells we'll look at it in a few days."

"Thank you."

"Does it hurt terribly Nemo?" asked Pearl.

"A little," the clownfish replied.

"My Dad says that you were very brave," said Sheldon, "he says you could have died."

For once, Tad shut up. He didn't want to let other fish know he was scared but it was no use trying to hide it.

Dory spotted Destiny and Bailey swimming over to the playground, absolutely flabbergasted by what they saw.

"Dory!" cried Destiny, "What happened?"

Dory looked around. "I don't remember. But it was very scary."

"I don't understand," said Bailey shaking his large head, "How come we didn't feel a thing?"

"Maybe, just like the hurricane, the deeper you go, the less you're exposed to it," thought Destiny aloud, "But Dory, you must have been so scared!"

Dory nodded. "Yeah, but...for some reason I wasn't too scared."

"Hey you guys?" said Bailey to both of them, "I think you might like to know this. I just swam up here from the Drop Off after sheltering with those sharks and...it doesn't exist anymore."

Destiny looked incredulous. Dory had no idea how to react to the fact that there would be no glorious views. Only empty water. Bailey joined Charlie in trying to entertain the reef children while Destiny went to make sure the FEA members had made it out alright.

Dory looked over the damaged reef and sighed. It seemed to her that just when she had found a suitable home the worst always happened and there she was exposed in the open again. Marlin saw her hovering motionlessly over the edge of the playground.

"Could you watch Nemo for me for a moment?" he said turning to Gill.

'Sure thing,' the idol replied.

Marlin approached Dory, planting himself at her side. The two just watched the swirling debris in silence.

"So," said Marlin.

"Yeah?" said Dory.

"Uh...I wanted...to thank you."

"Me?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Well," he replied, "just...being there I guess. I know how hard it must have been for you too, worried about your parents." There was a brief pause. "I'm uh-sorry I yelled at you earlier."

Dory looked at him and smiled, "I forgive you," she said.

"Oh. Good."

They stayed staring at the dead reef for a long time. Homeless. Shaken. Reefugees just like Mr Ray said.

"So what happens now?" said Dory at last.

"Now?" Marlin looked around him, at their friends and neighbours who would now have to look for new homes on a new reef. "I guess we just have to face what comes." He turned around to see Gill picking up Nemo causing the boy to laugh despite all that he had been through.

"Together."

**Author's Note:**

> Don't forget to leave a review to give praise/criticism! What did I do well and what could I improve on? Thank You!


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